The past issues of e-power have featured discussions on understanding and basic management of power quality.
In this issue of e-power we explore practical guidelines for addressing power quality issues within the company to achieve 24X7 uptime.
Every electrical system is unique
The approach to address power quality issues at every facility will also have to be different. A facility centric preventive maintenance plan is the first step to better power quality. Establishing index for various electrical parameters like voltage, current, power etc. has emerged as an innovative approach in power quality monitoring.
A regular monitoring of these indices is effective in identifying and solving problems caused by power quality.
Every problem has a history
Analyzing power quality is a bit like annual health check-up. The doctor monitors various parameters in view of various factors like age, lifestyle etc. and classifies it as a problem. For example, high blood pressure at young age is a problem that needs deeper intervention but at relatively old ages it is more about keeping it low through medicine. Similarly, analysis of electrical systems has to be performed in view of its historical trend.
System disturbances and historical trends have to at the center while analyzing data for indices. For example, if the system performs without a problem within 1% limit in voltage unbalance this could be considered normal for that system. Only those data patterns or ranges of the index that have a clear association with disturbances in the past have to be observed and managed for better power quality.
Understanding the difference between acceptable and abnormal power quality events based on the change in indices may require long experience of working with the in-house electrical systems.
The electrical system can be configured for continual or periodic monitoring of the electrical indices discussed above. While a continuous monitoring system is ideal, it can also be costly.
Proactive steps to manage electrical indices
Once the normal values for electrical indices are identified for a particular system, it is easier to identify the problems at system or equipment level. Tracking of historical index data can be useful in revealing the extent to which change in one parameter affects others. Proactive steps can then be taken in through scheduled and predictive maintenance.
In the earlier newsletters, we have already discussed about two critical issues concerning power quality – that is, having the technology to monitor power quality and dedicated manpower to own up that responsibility. Using electrical indices discussed above could serve as the next step in solving your power quality challenges.
