Electrical Power and Machines Department

Historical Background

In September 11, 1916, the Sultan's Decree No. 23/1916 was issued to modify the Sultan's Engineering School regulations to allow for five scholastic departments, one of them was the "Department of Electrical Engineering". In 1927, both the "Department of Electrical Engineering" and the "Department of Mechanical Engineering" became one department at the "Royal Engineering School, Al-Mohandiskhana". The third and fourth year students had the choice to either specialize in electrical or in mechanical engineering.

The foundation for the electricity laboratory was established in 1932. That lab contained the following:

DC Laboratory
2 AC Laboratories
2 High Voltage Laboratories
Electrical Instruments Calibration Laboratory
Electrical Measurements Laboratory
Main Distribution Sub-Station

Another floor was added to the building to accommodate a Measurements Laboratory, a Radio Laboratory, and a Television Laboratory. In addition, Lecture and Drawing Halls, and Staff Offices were also added.

In 1969, the Electrical Engineering Department was split into two scientific departments: the "Electrical Power and Machines Department (EPM)" and the "Electronics and Communications Department". Again, the third and fourth year students had the choice to join any of the two departments.

In 1974, the students would graduate with either a B.Sc. in Electrical Power and Machines or with a B.Sc. in Electronics and Communications.

The EPM Department was further developed by introducing modern laboratories in the fields of Automatic Control, Power Electronics, and Computer Applications in Power Systems and Electric Machines. The graduates of the EPM Department have career opportunities in the industry, in electrical power and distribution stations, in contracting companies, and in many other engineering fields.

The EPM Department offers Diploma, M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in the fields of Electrical Machines, Power Systems, Automatic Control, Power Electronics, and High Voltage Engineering

Major Specializations

Automatic Control
Electrical Machines
Electrical Power Systems
High Voltage
Power Electronics
Power Generation and Utilization

Laboratories

Electrical Machines Laboratories

DC Machines Lab

AC Machines Lab

Special Machines Lab

The department has three electrical machines laboratories, namely:

DC machines laboratory

AC machines laboratory

Special machines Laboratory

These laboratories serve both undergraduate and graduate students. Also, they are used for research and consulting tests. They have the facilities to test and represent various types of electrical machines and drive systems.

Electrical Power Systems Laboratories

3-Phase Transmission Simulator

4-Bus Simulator

2-Machine System

The department has two power systems laboratories, namely:

Undergraduate power systems laboratory

Post-graduate power system simulators laboratory

These laboratories serve both undergraduate and graduate students. Students learn the basics of transmission line performance assessment, symmetrical components evaluation, and load characteristics determination.

High Voltage Laboratories

Impulse Generator

Voltage Regulator

Test Transformer

The department has four high voltage laboratories, namely:

Impulse voltage laboratory

High voltage AC laboratory

Digital protection laboratory

Relays and circuit breakers laboratory

The first high voltage laboratory was established in 1932 and further updated in 2003 and in 2004. This lab introduces its technical services to both undergraduate and graduate students. It, also, introduces its services to the industrial sector.

Digital Protection

Test Transformer

The impulse voltage laboratory contains devices for both measurement and testing. The measurement devices contain:

Micro-Ammeter to measure very low currents up to 100μA

2-AC-Voltmeter that can measure a voltage up to 6000V

Three potential transformers with turns ratio 11000/110

One current transformer (200A) with type ACETO industries

Galvanometer with scale (30-0-30)

An experiment setup for HVAC measurement containing a sphere gap (2.5Cm)

Electrostatic voltammeter that can measure HVAC up to 50KV

Digital multi-meter of type PROTEC8902A

Oscilloscope of type OS-9040D Gold Star

An experiment setup for the grounding system resistance measurement

On the other hand, the testing devices contain:

Oil tester (SIEMENS) used in testing oil under voltages up to 60KV and fields up to 300KV/Cm

Impulse Generator (HIPotronics) to generate voltages up to 400KV

Impulse Generator (HIPotronics) to generate voltages up to 75KV

HVDC power supply (HIPotronics) with input voltage 380VAC and output voltage 100KVDC

Multi-stage Impulse Generator) with its impulse control system and the regulator section

The High Voltage AC Laboratory contains the following units:

Voltage Regulator

Test Transformer 400/20000/40000 V- 27 KVA

Test Transformer 400/20000/40000 V- 25 KVA

This Digital Protection Laboratory contains a lot of useful working devices that provide valuable technical information to the students of the department. Among those units:

11KV SF6 C.B (BBC BROWN BOVERI)

An experiment setup for testing the digital differential

Digital Distance Relay (HITACHI) (DIP-02XL)

Group of SEL digital relays

5-Electro-mechanical over voltage relay

Full automatic AC voltage regulator JESPC

Automatic Control and Computer Control Labs

There are 2 labs for the undergraduate students and another lab for research

projects activities.

The automatic control lab in the 3rd floor in Library Building No. 9 includes the

following experiments and facilities:

1. Process Control experiment (plate 1)

2. PLC experiment Level 1 ( Plate 2)

3. PID control experiment (Plate 3)

4. PLC experiment Level 2 and motor drive control (plate 4)

5. Magnetic Levitation experiment (Plate 5)

6. Inverted Pendulum experiment (Plate 6)

7. Substation Automation Model (Plate 7) – under construction

8. Maintenance equipment for the lab devices (Plate 8 and 9)

The power control lab in the 3rd floor in the HV Building No. 16 includes the following

experiments and facilities:

1. Position Control ( Plate 10)

2. Digital Control of a position control unit including DAS card and PC

3. Production Line with Robot Arm using PLC (Plate 11)

4. Weighing control unit using PLC and an electronic weighing ( Plate 12)

5. Double Elevator Unit using PLC and Inverters (Plate 13)

6. Seminar room with data show and PC (Plate 14)

7. PCs in a LAN (Figure 1)

8. Measuring and recording devices (Plate 15)

The computer control lab in 3rd floor in the Library Building No 9 is dedicated for the

research projects and graduate students. The lab includes the following equipment,

control units, control systems and facilities:

1. Level Control Station with Microprocessor Based Controller (Foxboro)

2. Temperature Control Station with Microprocessor Controller (Foxboro)

3. Heat Transfer Control Station with Microprocessor Controller (Foxboro)

4. DCS including 1,2 and 3 with OIS and SW and data network (Plate 16)

5. Small DCS (Yokogawa) (Plate 17)

6. PID Microprocessor Based Controllers (Bailey)

7. Drive control for DC and AC Machines ( Plate 18)

8. Data Acquisition Units

9. Sensor Calibration Unit (Plate 19)

10. PLCs ( Siemens – Telemchanique – Allen Bradley – Hitachi – ABB)

11. SW for PLC and SCADA

12. Power Monitor and Energy Analyzer devices (Plate 20)

13. PCs in LAN (Figure 2)

14. Research meeting facilities (Plate 21- 22)