Full-time study

4 years

prof. RNDr. Vladimír Aubrecht, CSc.

Chairman :
prof. RNDr. Vladimír Aubrecht, CSc.
Councillor internal :
doc. Ing. Petr Mastný, Ph.D.
prof. Ing. Jiří Drápela, Ph.D.
doc. Ing. Pavel Vorel, Ph.D.
doc. Ing. Ondřej Vítek, Ph.D.
prof. Ing. Petr Toman, Ph.D.
Councillor external :
prof. Ing. Radomír Goňo, Ph.D.
Ing. Petr Modlitba, CSc.
prof. Ing. Aleš Richter, CSc.
Ing. Zdeněk Wolf

The doctor study programme is devoted to the preparation of the high quality scientific and research specialists in various branches of power electronics, control technology, design of electrical machines, electric power generation and distribution, and electric power utilization.
The aim is to provide the doctor education in all these particular branches to students educated in university magister study, to make deeper their theoretical knowledge, to give them also requisite special knowledge and practical skills and to teach them methods of scientific work.

The goal of the postgradual doctoral (PhD) study of the program "Power Systems and Power Electronics" is the education for scientific work in the area of power electrical engineering and power systems. Graduates of PhD find occupation either as scientific or research workers including industrial development, either as university teachers and in higher manager functions as well.

The graduate of the doctor study program "Power Systems and Power Electronics" obtains broad knowledge of subject of high power engineering. The knowledge is built mainly on theoretical background of the subject. Moreover, the graduate will obtain deep special knowledge aimed in direction of his/her thesis. The graduate will be able to perform scientific and/or applied research based on up to date theoretical knowledge. The graduate will be able to organize and lead a team of researchers in the studied subject.

Doctoral studies are carried out according to the individual study plan, which is prepared by the supervisor in the beginning of the study in cooperation with the doctoral student. The individual curriculum specifies all the duties determined in accordance with the BUT Study and Examination Rules, which the doctoral student must fulfill to successfully finish his studies. These responsibilities are time-bound throughout the study period, they are scored and fixed at fixed deadlines.
Students will write and pass tests of obligatory subject Exam in English before the state doctoral examination, compulsory elective courses in view of the focus of his dissertation, whereas at least two are selected from: Mathematical Modelling of Electrical Power Systems, New Trends and Technologies in Power System Generation, Selected problems from power electronics and electrical drives, Topical Issues of Electrical Machines and Apparatus), and at least two optional subjects (English for PhD students; Quoting in Scientific Practice; Resolving Innovation Assignments; Scientific Publishing from A to Z).
The student may enroll for the state doctoral exam only after all the tests prescribed by his / her individual study plan have been completed. Before the state doctoral exam, the student draws up a dissertation thesis describing in detail the aims of the thesis, a thorough evaluation of the state of knowledge in the area of the dissertation solved, or the characteristics of the methods it intends to apply in the solution.
The defense of the controversy that is opposed is part of the state doctoral exam. In the next part of the exam, the student must demonstrate deep theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of electrical engineering, electronics, electrical machines, and electrical apparatus. The state doctoral examination is in oral form and, in addition to the discussion on the dissertation thesis, it also consists of thematic areas related to compulsory and compulsory elective subjects.
To defend the dissertation, the student reports after the state doctoral examination and after fulfilling conditions for termination, such as participation in teaching, scientific and professional activity (creative activity) and at least a monthly study or work placement at a foreign institution or participation in an international creative project.

The doctoral studies of a student follow the Individual Study Plan (ISP), which is defined by the supervisor and the student at the beginning of the study period. The ISP is obligatory for the student, and specifies all duties being consistent with the Study and Examination Rules of BUT, which the student must successfully fulfill by the end of the study period. The duties are distributed throughout the whole study period, scored by credits/points and checked in defined dates. The current point evaluation of all activities of the student is summarized in the “Total point rating of doctoral student” document and is part of the ISP. At the beginning of the next study year the supervisor highlights eventual changes in ISP. By October, 15 of each study year the student submits the printed and signed ISP to Science Department of the faculty to check and archive.
Within the first four semesters the student passes the exams of compulsory, optional-specialized and/or optional-general courses to fulfill the score limit in Study area, and concurrently the student significantly deals with the study and analysis of the knowledge specific for the field defined by the dissertation thesis theme and also continuously deals with publishing these observations and own results. In the follow-up semesters the student focuses already more to the research and development that is linked to the dissertation thesis topic and to publishing the reached results and compilation of the dissertation thesis.
By the end of the second year of studies the student passes the Doctor State Exam, where the student proves the wide overview and deep knowledge in the field linked to the dissertation thesis topic. The student must apply for this exam by April, 30 in the second year of studies. Before the Doctor State Exam the student must successfully pass the exam from English language course.
In the third and fourth year of studies the student deals with the required research activities, publishes the reached results and compiles the dissertation thesis. As part of the study duties is also completing a study period at an abroad institution or participation on an international research project with results being published or presented in abroad or another form of direct participation of the student on an international cooperation activity, which must be proved by the date of submitting the dissertation thesis.
By the end of the winter term in the fourth year of study the students submit the elaborated dissertation thesis to the supervisor, who scores this elaborate. The final dissertation thesis is expected to be submitted by the student by the end of the fourth year of studies.
In full-time study form, during the study period the student is obliged to pass a pedagogical practice, i.e. participate in the education process. The participation of the student in the pedagogical activities is part of his/her research preparations. By the pedagogical practice the student gains experience in passing the knowledge and improves the presentation skills. The pedagogical practice load (exercises, laboratories, project supervision etc.) of the student is specified by the head of the department based on the agreement with the student’s supervisor. The duty of pedagogical practice does not apply to students-payers and combined study program students. The involvement of the student in the education process within the pedagogical practice is confirmed by the supervisor in the Information System of the university.

1. Advanced testing of protection systems using real-time simulator

   New technologies of power system behaviour research during transient phenomena open the area of advanced analysis focused to large protection systems operation during faults. Tha main aim of this disertation is to extend possibbilities of real time simulator RTDS about simultaneous tests in real time. The condition for successful defense of this work is to complete at least one month long internship at a foreign university.

   Tutor: Toman Petr, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

2. Conducted disturbances in power systems in audio-frequency range

   Increasing deployment of power converters in distribution systems leads to rise in high-frequency conducted disturbance level related to the converters switching frequencies. The switching disturbances occur dominantly in frequency range from 2 kHz to 150 kHz. Current experience shows that such disturbance may lead to serious malfunction of grid-connected sensing, measuring and/or controlling systems of analog or digital nature. At the same time there is significant gap in EMC coordination and standardization since the frequency range was for a long time out of interest. It is just between low-frequency disturbances connected to power quality and radio-frequency disturbance. The project is focused firstly on development of suitable measuring apparatus and procedure to monitor the disturbances in distribution systems in the audio-frequency range. Then origin and propagation of the disturbance should be studied and finally EMC concept is expected to be proposed. The theme takes a part of research project in cooperation with Czech utilities and with foreign universities (Germany, Italy). An intership at a foreign research institution, for instance TU Dresden, DE, is expected. Ask for more details at drapela@vutbr.cz.

   Tutor: Drápela Jiří, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

3. Control and Protection on AC/DC Hybrid Microgrids

   Future trends in the electrical power engineering predict the development of dispersed generation, accumulation and microgrids. With respect to the output voltage of the photovoltaic panels and the batteries there are integral parts of the development of microgrids also DC installations and hybrid AC / DC grids. The aim of PhD study is to analyse the key challenges of hybrid AC / DC networks operation and to propose a methodology for cost effective voltage and current measurements for systems of adaptive control and protection respecting eg. different levels of short circuit power in all operating conditions, specific characteristics of DC current at fault clearance. The condition for successful defense of this work is to complete at least one month long internship at a foreign university.

   Tutor: Toman Petr, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

4. Control and Protection on AC/DC Hybrid Microgrids

   Future trends in the electrical power engineering predict the development of dispersed generation, accumulation and microgrids. With respect to the output voltage of the photovoltaic panels and the batteries there are integral parts of the development of microgrids also DC installations and hybrid AC / DC grids. The aim of PhD study is to analyse the key challenges of hybrid AC / DC networks operation and to propose a methodology for cost effective voltage and current measurements for systems of adaptive control and protection respecting eg. different levels of short circuit power in all operating conditions, specific characteristics of DC current at fault clearance. The condition for successful defense of this work is to complete at least one month long internship at a foreign university.

   Tutor: Toman Petr, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

5. Development and optimization of protection functions for precise electronic current and voltage transducers

   The dissertation will be focused on development of new extended protection functions optimized for distribution networks which would make use of the advantages of current or voltage transducers with a digitalized output. Thanks to the possibility of secondary signal correction and loss-free transmission of monitored signal, these transducer types offer a number of advantages when compared to the conventional solution on the basis of instrument transformers, such as high linearity, high accuracy in the wide frequency range, the possibility of temperature, phase displacement and amplitude correction and suchlike. Thanks to these precision transducers it is possible to use data monitored with high accuracy in the range from operating currents to the area of short-circuit currents without a danger of their saturation. Thanks to synergy of the project targets with modern electronic current transducers, the research activities will be also focused on the research of the methodology for evaluation of accuracy and operational qualities of new types of electronic transducers. The condition for successful defense of this work is to complete at least one month long internship at a foreign university. At present, the Aalto University (Finland) may be considered relevant, but the specific place will be updated during Ph.D. study period.

   Tutor: Topolánek David, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

6. Development of technical innovations in the context of energy management

   The research and development activities within the dissertation thesis deal with energy management in the field of tension between legislation-driven energy policy as a strategic task and reduction of energy demand. Methods and models leading to increased energy efficiency will be analyzed and evaluated to propose a energy management as a solution for higher efficiency. Opportunities and limits of as energy management system will be provided.

   Tutor: Mastný Petr, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

7. Charging stations for electric vehicles as an element of electricity system

   The urgent need for the development of charging stations for hybrid cars and electric vehicles (EV) still shows as important in the context of the current gradual development of this type of transport. The theme is focused on energy analysis of the concept of charging stations with integrated accumulation and renewable energy sources. Based on the concept will be developed the mathematical models. It will be performed energy-economic analysis in order to verify the possibility of using the concept in this way to reduce the load of the network at the connection point. Direct possibility of cooperation on concrete solution with an energy company is expected. The condition for successful defense of this work is to complete at least one month long internship at a foreign university.

   Tutor: Mastný Petr, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

8. Chromatic flicker perception modeling in flickermeters

   Visible light variation may leads to disturbance of human’s visual perception. The origin of such negative effect is in the eye anatomy and physiology. The major influence on the flickering light perception can be found in eye viewing field, photoreceptors (cones of three types and rods) and their distribution at retina as a part of eye anatomy and in eye adaptation mechanisms like pupil, photo-chemical and neural adaptation (response) to luminous variations (including the photoreceptors spectral luminous efficiency) as a part of eye physiology. The human eye can be seen as specialized luminance multi-detector where the stimulation contrast is as important as radiant density. There are differentiated three types of flicker: temporal, spatial and chromatic. All of these flickers are joyless and may involve many psychological interactions. In artificially illuminated areas, lamps light variations due to variations in supply voltage may also lead to flicker perception. Such lamp possibly will produce light with time-varying radiant flux and its spectral distribution. The lamps flickering is produced by a voltage Phase Modulation (PM), mainly by Phase Jumps (PJ) and by Interharmonic Voltages (IH) superimposed on a voltage waveform. Thesis is focused on the voltage fluctuation to lamps time-varying radiant flux and its spectral distribution fluctuation transfer analysis and on the utilization of the analysis results for development and realization of an objective flickermeter having response to both the temporal luminance and chromatic flicker. The thesis aim is the realization of the new flickermeter types implemented in LabVIEW, with the experimental verification. The thesis covers theoretical-analytical, developmental and also practical-experimental part of study. An intership at a foreign research institution is expected. More information: drapela@feec.vutbr.cz.

   Tutor: Drápela Jiří, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

9. Islanding operation of distribution systems with distributed generation

   The aim is to develop technically correct, reliable and verified concept for islanding operation (IO) of dedicated part of distribution system with distributed generation dealing mainly with definitions of conditions necessary to successful transition to IO, correct and reliable detection of conditions for transition to IP and back to parallel operation, development of power sources (loads) control strategy, etc. An intership at a foreign research institution, for instance Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", is expected. For more information email to: drapela@feec.vutbr.cz.

   Tutor: Drápela Jiří, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

10. Modeling of current interruption in electric fuses

    Electric fuses are protection elements widely used in low- and medium voltage power distribution networks. Fuses are typically designed to have fuse elements as segmented thin metal conductors that are embedded in silica sand. Due to over currents and short circuit currents the fuse elements are heated up and melted, an electric arc is ignited. Thus the mode of operation can be separated into a pre-arcing and a arcing phase. In the arcing phase the generated plasma is interacting with the filler medium (sand) and the fault energy is stored in the sand, leading to melting of the sand. The morphometric properties of the filler have an influence on the arc plasma, e.g. the plasma composition, thermodynamic and transport properties. The approach for this thesis is to first identify existing modeling approaches and evaluate from a numerical and result quality point of view. Starting point are existing arc models that are developed mainly for atmospheric gas discharge, but have limited validity in this application. As a second step a suitable model should be adopted or implemented and the identified model shortcomings should be addressed. The necessary transport, thermodynamic and absorption coefficients for the metal vapor and silica sand mixture need to be gathered. As a third step the model is applied to predict the interruption process for a specified fuse. By means of comparison of test results and simulation results the model accuracy and sensitivity is evaluated. This thesis will include close cooperation with Eaton. The student is expected to spend at least one month internship in Eaton.

    Tutor: Kloc Petr, Mgr., Ph.D.

11. Modeling of switching arcs in mineral oil

    Mineral oil is used as an insulation medium in medium voltage power distribution equipment, like transformers or pad mount switchgear. In different applications switching is performed by means of electromechanical contacts that are submerged in mineral oil. During contact opening, an electric arc is formed and energy is transferred into the mineral oil, mainly by heat conduction and radiation. As a result, mineral oil is vaporized and gas bubbles are formed that are interacting with the oil. Close to current zero, the gas bubble starts collapsing since the energy input is decreasing. This will change the plasma conditions like pressure and temperature, which influences the plasma decay and therefore the dielectric recovery. The main goal of the thesis is to develop and implement a stable and performant multiphase flow solver in order to be able to simulate the complex interactions that occur during arc switching/arc interruption in mineral oil. This includes the modeling of phase change (oil  oil vapor) and determining the necessary thermodynamic, transport and radiation properties. Starting point are existing arc models that are developed mainly for atmospheric gas discharged, but have limited validity in this application. In a second step the processes during recovery should be investigated, since a prediction of successful interruption is determined by the rise of transient recovery voltage vs. dielectric recovery. In a third step the model accuracy and sensitivity is evaluated by comparison with actual test results. This thesis will include close cooperation with Eaton. The student is expected to spend at least one month internship in Eaton.

    Tutor: Kloc Petr, Mgr., Ph.D.

12. New approaches to overvoltage protection in power engineering.

    The thesis is focused to find new types and principles of protection, protective measures and meters of lightning and switching overvoltages in MV and HV networks. The theoretical part is focused on description and simulation of overvoltage formation, its distribution in networks, high voltage equipment and in locations of wave impedance change using wave processes. The practical part is focused on endurance testing and residual voltage measurement of protective circuits, surge arresters and protective devices by ECI 8/20 us impulses. Furthermore, testing of power equipment, protections and surge arresters on lightning current effects by ECI 10/350 us impulses with practical application of the results. The aim of this thesis is to find and design suitable protections for power equipment and to ensure their resistance against current and voltage effects of lightning and switching overvoltage in MV and HV networks. The monthly internship abroad will be a part of PhD study at one of these research institutes: Aalto University (Aalto, Finland), Graz University of Technology (Graz, Austria) or TUKE (Kosice, Slovakia).

    Tutor: Krbal Michal, Ing., Ph.D.

13. System for monitoring of power quality and energy power flows in buildings with renewable energy sources – demand side management

    Evaluate current options (worldwide) management and monitoring of building energy systems with renewable energy sources. Design and create a unified system of regulation and control for the system, which will include heat pumps, solar thermal collectors and hybrid energy system with accumulation (photovoltaics, wind turbines) in order to achieve the maximum possible interactions between different sources and devices with respect to environmental influences. Underlying assumption of the proposed system is based on the concept of using PLC. The condition for successful defense of this work is to complete at least one month long internship at a foreign university.

    Tutor: Mastný Petr, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

14. The voltage regulation in distribution networks with a high proportion of stochastic sources

    An increasing proportion of stochastic resources in networks affect the voltage stability during the day. Variable power delivery to the grid from these sources causes fluctuations in voltage variations during the daily diagram. Current devices used to the voltage regulation are unable to provide the required voltage level at all points of the network. The aim is to describe new possibilities and means for voltage regulation in distribution system and design concept of this regulation with regard to the current development of the resource base. The condition for successful defense of this work is to complete at least one month long internship at a foreign university.

    Tutor: Mastný Petr, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

15. Use of the cooperation of energy storage and renewable energy systems to support the distribution network operation

    The thesis is focused on the design and the development of a model representing the cooperation of battery and photovoltaic systems connected via hybrid inverters into the distribution network (DG). The main object of the research is to specify the possible use of this concept to support of the distribution network operation, i.e. voltage regulation, reactive power compensation, distribution congestion relief, asymmetry compensation, power microoutages limitation, backup source for crisis management, distribution capacity compensation, etc. Research results are the definition and the establishment of criteria for the inverter management and for using of this concept within the system network services at level of low and medium voltages. The research is also targeted on the identification and the development of other new possibilities for DG operation supporting.

    Tutor: Ptáček Michal, Ing., Ph.D.

16. Utilization of advanced revenue meters for distribution systems control and automation

    The aim is to define expected functionalities of the revenue meters and their integration to individual security-technical layers of a distribution system management, furthermore to optimize metering features and data concentration for individual tasks. An intership at a foreign research institution, for instance TU Dresden, DE, is expected. For more information email to: drapela@feec.vutbr.cz.

    Tutor: Drápela Jiří, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

1. round (applications submitted from 01.04.2020 to 15.05.2020)

1. The identification of power system faults

   New technologies of measurement and communications bring new possibilities of synchronous measurement of faraway substations. The main aim of research is detailed analysis of Electrical values during power system faults and proposal of method for their identification. The condition for successful defense of this work is to complete at least one month long internship at a foreign university.

   Tutor: Toman Petr, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

2. Use of accumulation to support the energy system

   Stability of electric power supply is - as a term - closely related with electrical energy production gained from renewable power sources (mainly from wind and photovoltaic power plants). The research will be focused on possibilities of accumulation of electric energy produced from renewable power sources with the help of modern technologies while focusing on hydrogen (VRB systems) utilization, accumulators based on Lithium and pumped storage hydro plants for its accumulation. The result of the work will be the draft measures in the energy system, which can solve time disproportion between electrical energy supply and take-off from the renewable power sources. The solution is connected with computer simulation (Matlab) and experimental measuring on a real model. The condition for successful defense of this work is to complete at least one month long internship at a foreign university.

   Tutor: Mastný Petr, doc. Ing., Ph.D.