Investigating “Blinky” Lights

www.dranetz.com

The HDPQ family of products have a number of trigger mechanisms for capturing different types of power quality phenomena.   Most users are familiar with settings for sags and swells, but those typical limits usually don’t capture the “blinky lights” problems.   While the Pst (perceptibility short term) parameter will indicate whether the voltage supply is likely to produce light flicker when the Pst is close or above 1, it doesn’t help determine where it comes from or what the source is since it is a ten-minute journal value.  The graph below illustrates such.

The voltage and current plots show that it is an increase in current over 100A that results in the voltage decreasing by 5-8V every 15 minutes. The rms variation limit for sags is set to 90% of the nominal 120V or 108V, so no sag was reported.   In above example, the red dotted line is that sag limit.  Yet the residents complained of “blinky lights” while the Pst does increase to 0.8 each time, not over 1.  

The rms deviation transient trigger is one method to capture such as an event.  However, there is a parameter that is included in the IEC and IEEE standards that was defined just for such disturbances.   It is the RVC or Rapid Voltage Change.    It looks for a sudden change in the voltage from one steady state value, waits for stability in any continued variations until stable at another steady state voltage value for 1 second or more.    The delta change limit is typically set to 2-3%.  Since the variation shown in the data above was 4-7%, this mechanism was ideal for capturing and reporting each time that it happened.  An example at 22:189:54 is shown below.   The rms deviations and wave shape triggers also captured the event, but they also triggered on other disturbances that weren’t part of the investigation, which produced extra data to sort through

#39 10/03/2017 22:02:05.297 AV Misc at 0.8 Deg
#40 10/03/2017 22:02:05.297 BV  Misc at -179.1 Deg
#41 10/03/2017 22:02:05.306 AVRmsDev  Normal To High
#42 10/03/2017 22:02:05.306 BVRmsDev  Normal To High
#44 10/03/2017 22:02:05.323 AVRmsDev  High To Normal
#45 10/03/2017 22:02:05.323 BVRmsDev  High To Normal
#48 10/03/2017 22:18:54.874 AV  Misc at 0.7 Deg
#49 10/03/2017 22:18:54.874 BV  Misc at -179.0 Deg
#50 10/03/2017 22:18:54.874 AVRmsDev  Normal To High
#51 10/03/2017 22:18:54.874 BVRmsDev  Normal To High
#52 10/03/2017 22:18:54.883 A Delta V RVC  Rapid Voltage Change 0.175 Sec.
#53 10/03/2017 22:18:54.883 B Delta V RVC  Rapid Voltage Change 0.259 Sec.

The right tool for the right job has always been a wise adage.  Setting the right tool up with the right limits on the right parameters to help solve the customer’s problems is an extension of that idea that can help get the answer quickly and clearly.   By the way, the answer here was a common answer for such problems.   The HVAC unit was causing the blinky lights.

Encore® Series System Permanently Installed Power Quality Monitoring System

http://www.dranetz.com/product-services/dranetz-permanent-systems/encore/

Dranetz was a first to pioneer permanently installed or fixed power quality monitoring systems. The web browser based Encore Series System, includes the 61000 family (61STD, 61SG, 61SGD), and is the first completely modular and configurable instrument to shatter the traditional 8-channel (4 voltage/4 current) instrument format. Now you can have your choice of voltage, current and data acquisition modules to build from one to four instruments in a single compact, cost-effective format. Uniquely designed with a modular chassis platform, these instruments can be completely customized to meet each specific monitoring application

 Video: Dranetz Encore Series System - The Intelligent Power Monitoring System:

Dranetz Instruments Revenue Accurate vs. Revenue Certified/Grade

www.dranetz.com

INTRODUCTION

Most Dranetz Power Quality products can also compute and measure common energy parameters, such as W, VA, VAR, PF, Demand, Energy, and more. The ability to measure energy in addition to PQ opens the doors to many more applications, including energy only applications that can include electrical consumption.

When measuring electrical consumption for billing, revenue, meter verification, reference, or other purposes, high accuracy is often required. When the metered data is to be used for billing purposes, a revenue certified/grade meter may be required by code or law. When a revenue certified meter is not required, a revenue accurate meter may meet the needs of the application. Such a meter has similar accuracies as a revenue certified meter, but without the laboratory testing and the certification itself.

This White Paper summarizes the most common standards used for revenue certified energy metering and how the accuracies and capabilities of current Dranetz products compare to these standards. 

You can download the complete Dranetz white paper here.

Encore Series - Measure More Than Power Quality!

www.dranetz.com                                                                                                               sales@dranetz.com

Dranetz Encore Series Power Quality, Demand, and Energy monitoring system can also monitor temperature, humidity (above graphic), pressure, flow, alarms, and other environmental and physical parameters.

Encore Series Software (ESS) is the heart of the Encore Series System. ESS can not only collect and record data from Dranetz instrumentation, but by using the SW MODBUS driver (optional), ESS can read virtually any 3rd party device with a Modbus interface. 

Such devices can be Data Acquisition (DAQ) modules that monitor transducers/sensors in your facility. These DAQ devices are treated just like the PQ, Demand, and Energy DataNodes sold by Dranetz. ESS will read their data, and store it in the ESS database for trending and triggering alongside the Dranetz DataNodes. The DAQ data can come from virtually any transducer or sensor with an industry standard voltage or current output that is compatible with 3rd party DAQ modules.

Case Study: Power Quality Problems Can be Costly; Lost Revenue, Interrupted Operations

www.dranetz.com

Despite their differences, continuous-process industries share underlying characteristics: they maintain continuous operations in facilities that represent substantial start-up costs and time, yet can be interrupted or disrupted by seemingly minor fluctuations in power quality. If the product stream is disrupted, lost productivity and lost product can create a large financial burden. For example, a voltage sag in a paper mill can waste a whole day of production and inflict a $250,000 loss, while a 5-cycle interruption at a glass manufacturing facility can cost a minimum of $200,000. It is estimated that three percent of every sales dollar in the US is spent on power quality problems. Seventy five percent of all power quality problems occur inside customer facilities, requiring power engineers and electricians to diagnose and solve these problems themselves.

Unfortunately, these percentages will only increase as loads become more sensitive to power quality events and the power utilities become more decentralized. For facility managers and engineers, understanding and managing power system infrastructure is essential to ensuring reliability of production, optimizing equipment performance, and controlling escalating energy costs. Power monitoring can potentially detect deterioration in power quality before problems arise.

The Dranetz Encore Series Power Monitoring system enables users to proactively monitor their power system, potentially identifying and correcting problems before they occur. Additionally, with the proprietary AnswerModules, this system aids in troubleshooting by quickly identifying the direction, or source, of the problems before and after they occur.

Proactive Energy and Demand Monitoring

www.dranetz.com
In today’s world where facility staff managers and team members are wearing multiple hats, having information at your finger tips is a requirement. Even more so, having valuable information that can be acted up is even more critical. A typical facility can save from 10% to as much as 40% annually on energy costs by implementing a comprehensive energy action plan. And, while each facility will require an organized approach to recognize those savings, facilities first need to understand their power consumption, location of major loads, electric demand usage patterns, and associated costs.

Many companies today are developing energy management plans and actions requirements to address and limit their growing costs of energy. Part of these plans is the act of reducing energy consumption when peak demand levels are being reached or when electric rates are at their peaks. In order to do this facility operators need to have intelligent metering in place which is capable of recording and forecasting electrical usage in a real-time basis. Additionally, the responsible staff needs to know what these values are at any point in time and know what action to take. However, having someone sit at a computer screen or in front of meter panels to watch the energy levels increase and decrease is not a productive use of time or money. This is why it’s critical to have an intelligent system monitoring the various parts of the facility.

Utilizing the Encore Series ES230 DataNode’s along with the Encore Series Software, a facility can easily view their instantaneous, historic and predicted demand, energy consumption (as well as many other parameters), and associated costs at each point whenever they need. Additionally, the Dranetz Encore Series Software has built-in intelligence which proactively monitors any or all points identified, and has the ability to create alarm points based on an the plans requirements. This system proactively monitors present and predicted demand and usage levels, when the programmed threshold (limit) is exceeded, the Encore Series Software will send out alarm notifications to as many individuals as needed. These notifications can be in the form of email, pager, or the ever popular text message to a cell phone.

The Encore Series Software is a web enabled application that does not require the installation of any software on a local users computer. The system can be accessed from any web-enabled browser by multiple people simultaneously, and performs a variety of operations, including; data collection, data analysis, reporting, alarming, and remote setup of the equipment. With the Modbus driver installed the software can easily read data from any previously installed instrument that supports the Modbus protocol. Additionally, the software allows for easy expansion, including the addition of Power Quality instruments for more detailed analysis of power anomalies.

7X24 Customer Service Center

An international shipping company opened a new 24x7 customer service center to support its US customer base. To maximize uptime and ensure high reliability, a redundant UPS system was installed, protecting both the supply and the facility loads. Integral to the facility design was the Encore Series power monitoring system from Dranetz installed on the input and output of these UPS systems. The Encore Series provides real-time access to all power monitoring information using a standard web browser. This feature was quite important to the nationwide facility manager who travels frequently and required remote access to the facility’s infrastructure regardless of his physical location. He also needed a system that allowed multiple facility personnel from around the world to review system data, view trends to prevent future problems and remedy any inconsistencies.

Within a mere few months, the Encore Series provided valuable information to ensure power reliability at this critical facility. Most important, the system verified the expected performance of the UPS system and detected no disturbances on the UPS output feeding the critical loads (figure 1). However, monitoring the incoming power from the utility supply indicated more than 50 disturbances in the first three months of operation (figure 2). These disturbances included sags and transients that could have impacted unprotected loads, seriously compromising power reliability. Armed with the data, the facility manager contacted the utility who was able to pinpoint the problem as a faulty relay. The problem was corrected, while the Encore Series system continues to provide proactive information to support the uptime needs of the facility.

Encore Series System Solves Hospital's Power Outage Problem

By monitoring the incoming and outgoing power from a UPS supplying critical power to the Cath Lab X-Ray System and using the cross triggering comparison feature, the Encore Series instrument (at the time, this instrumentation was referred to as 'Signature System') was able to pinpoint the power outage problem.

The Encore verified the interruption of the utility supply and that the UPS was doing its job, providing a "clean" supply of power to the load. However, twenty seconds passed before the emergency generator came on-line, causing downtime and confusion. The Encore data enabled the customer to determine that the X-ray Emergency Power Off switch was being incorrectly fed directly by emergency power, rather than feeding the UPS as was specified in the hospital’s power system design.

Energy Management for Healthcare Facilities

Energy Platform EP1

Encore Series System

Energy and demand costs have a direct impact on a company’s bottom line. In fact, the cost of energy is one of the most commonly mismanaged expenses, regardless of a company’s size or the industry represented. In healthcare facilities energy management can be more difficult than any other industry, because you not only have to manage expenses, but you’re also dealing with managing human lives. Additionally, managing so many different functions within a single operation requires extra work to manage and measure energy improvements. Managing energy expenses does not have to come at a cost of sacrificing patient safety.

A typical facility can save from 10% to as much as 40% annually on energy costs by implementing a comprehensive energy action plan. And, while each facility will require an organized approach to recognize those savings, facilities first need to understand their power consumption, location of major loads, electric demand usage patterns, and associated costs.

A well organized monitoring and reporting system allows determination of where energy is going, identifies the biggest users, and decides which areas are likely to reap the largest benefits from energy management efforts while managing the impacts on patient safety. The benefits from applying monitoring and reporting principles and guidelines can be seen by comparing theoretical, equipment, system, and actual kWh/unit of production as a function of time.

Because a healthcare facility operates so many different areas and operations, the units of production will vary by department. As an example, the Xray, CT, MRI Test Department may be measured on the number of tests performed per hour, day or week vs. the amount of energy consumed; the Emergency Room (ER) would be measured by the number of patients treated per hour; and the Intensive Care Unit would be measured based on the amount of occupied patient beds per hour. Subsequently, in order to realize measurable improvements in energy conservation, it is essential to measure each of the various areas and apply the proper unit of production accordingly.

Benefits of Energy Monitoring Systems:

• Energy expenditure reductions: Load profile can be generated to track daily, weekly and seasonal variations in energy consumption, while critical loads can be metered and sub-metered to evaluate consumption and reduce energy costs.
• Allocate Costs and Perform Activity-based Costing: Track energy-related costs by department, tenant, process or output. Revenue-accurate metering allows for easy cost comparison with utility bills.
• Manage Energy Purchase Agreements: Use historical load profile data to develop price/risk curves for evaluating energy purchase agreements or for joining an aggregated group to purchase power at reduced costs.
• Perform Energy Conservation and Load Reduction: Shed non-essential loads or bring distributed generation on line to reduce consumption and/or participate in utility-sponsored demand reduction programs. Evaluate the value of energy efficient equipment such as lighting and HVAC changes.
• Reduce Demand Peaks and Related Costs: Avoid demand surcharges to predict kW demand and identify the cause of demand peaks and limit peak occurrences. Generate alarms on events such as excessive load, equipment failure, or when operations are likely to exceed contract terms for energy supply.
• Evaluate Impact of Production Equipment on Energy Costs: Monitor the efficiency of large, energy-consuming equipment to improve performance. Plan for expansion by analyzing load trends and available capacity for new equipment.