Java Plug-in for Encore Series Software To End Later This Year

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Dear Encore Series System Customers,

Encore Series Software (ESS) makes extensive use of the Java Plug-In for generating graphic images and manipulating setup information. Oracle, Java’s manufacturer, has announced that it will be ending development of the Java Plug-In for Web browsers with the introduction of Java 9. This is currently scheduled for mid-2017. In addition, the latest generation web browsers like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge no longer support the plug-in architecture that is required to use the Java Plug-In. Consequently, it is not possible to use ESS with the latest generation of web browsers.

We have been evaluating several solutions to this issue, and have determined that the best solution is to migrate customers to a new software platform that is already in development. The new software platform will include a new, modern web enabled environment that has similar capabilities as ESS, but is not Java based. It will also offer many enhancements, including a modern look and feel, as well as a responsive web design for use on all platforms, including mobile devices.

There is no action required on your part at this time! Our purpose of is to inform you that we have been well aware of the upcoming changes to the Java Plug-In environment, and we have plans in place to make the transition to a new and improved software solution as smooth as possible for our customers. During this transition period, you will be able to keep using the existing ESS, as long as you use the current versions of Web Browsers and the Java Plug-In.

You will hear more from us about our roll out plans in the coming months, but please feel free to contact our Technical Support group with any questions at +1-732-287-3680.

Sincerely,

Dranetz Technologies, Inc.

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:

Encore Series - Measure More Than Power Quality!

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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.

Encore - The Intelligent Power Monitoring System

www.dranetz.com  |  sales@dranetz.com Encore Series is a permanent monitoring system for power quality, energy, demand, and process monitoring. The flexible, configurable design allows users to specify the right instrument configuration for any specific application. Encore Series System is available in both rack and switchgear mounting packages. Build Your Instrument for Your ApplicationEncore Series permits you to combine user-specified, factory-installed modules for voltage, current, and digital inputs. Combinations of up to four modules can be installed in one compact instrument. Visualization and Analysis The Encore Series Software is an easy-to-use remote web browser based user interface and the ¼ VGA color touch display. The Encore Series Software provides advanced data characterization, trending, data analysis, reporting, real time, and set-ups for one or more instruments. CommunicationsEncore Series advanced communications work in the most demanding applications by supporting industry standard methods from high-speed fiber connections to analog modems. Intelligence Our unique Answer Modules® perform advance analysis and provide answers to difficult power quality events. Answer Modules are available fpr every industry and include: Sag Directivity (PDF) PF Correction Capacitor Detection/Directivity (PDF) Energy Usage Analysis/Reporting (PDF) UPS Performance and Custom Oneline Diagrams (PDF) Performance Evaluation By combining multiple modules, Encore Series monitors and evaluates the performance and health of diverse equipment, applications include: UPS – Monitor both input and output to evaluate the health of a UPS. The easy to read pass/fail report is included with the UPS Verification Answer Module. System Reliability – Gain a clear indication of power system reliability by simultaneously evaluating the power quality of multiple circuits on an ongoing basis. Predictive Maintenance – Benchmarking provides a statistical evaluation to allow you to reduce costs by forecasting instead of scheduling maintenance. Contact Dranetz at 732.287.3680, or email at sales@dranetz.com

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

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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

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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.

Data Center Uptime

In today’s 7x24 uptime world, a power outage begins after four milliseconds and can cost millions of dollars a year in downtime. Minimizing the probability of that impact requires facility managers to fully understand their power system infrastructure so they can maximize power reliability and quality. And while most data centers have invested in power Power monitoring is key to maximizing uptime and ensuring all power infrastructure is functioning properly.

mitigation technologies such as UPS and backup generation technologies, a 7x24 operation needs continuous power information to ensure that these systems are delivering highly reliable, clean power. 

Handheld and Portable Instruments: Typically used for troubleshooting or forensic investigation of power quality problems, these instruments can be brought into the field and used to collect information on an as-needed basis. Dranetz’s weather-resistant packaging enables users to leave instruments in the field for long-term monitoring and studies.

Permanently Installed, Continuous Monitoring Systems: The continuous capture of power quality and energy data puts facility managers in a position to proactively manage their power infrastructure, by increasing their knowledge and giving them the tools to increase system reliability.

Power Quality Software: Interpreting power monitoring data can be an overwhelmingly complex and time-consuming task. Dranetz prides itself on having the most user-friendly power quality software on the market.

Demand Response Case Study

Data Center uses Encore to monitor Demand Response Performance

A 1.2M square foot Data Center located in Northern New Jersey was participating in a Demand Response program utilizing their backup generators as the primary means of reducing their 7MW of load. The service provider that they worked with installed telemetry metering from the utilities KYZ pulse output to report the performance to the grid operator. However, the facility director wanted live access to the generators output so that they could measure the performance of the generators and watch loading on each of the four 2.5MW turbines in real-time and historically. And, it had to painlessly integrate into his existing BMS system over an IP backbone.

Backup generators are critical to the operation of a 24x7 facility, downtime is lost revenue and lost customers. A facility operator needs to know what’s happening to his system all the time, and electricity is the main backbone of his entire operation. Let’s face it, no matter how many T1’s are coming in from different carriers and different POP’s, if the electricity goes out everything stops working including communications.

Utilizing the Encore Series ES230 DataNode’s along with their existing Encore Series Software installation, the Facility Director was able to give his BMS team a Modbus map for the instruments which were easily programmed. Because these were backup generators installation was much easier, however they were done sequentially in bypass mode because no one knows if or when the power will go out and the engines would be needed for an emergency. After the installation was complete and the integration into the BMS was done, the facility manager performed a live test and the results were perfect. The facilities network operations center (NOC) was able to read the instantaneous values from the generators from their control room, the ES230’s were also integrated into the existing Encore Series Software system so the facilities engineers also gained that they were able to see all of the instruments remotely when needed.

The graphs below display how easy it is for a user to view their reports on energy usage, demand, and any other electrical parameters recorded in the Encore Series Software from any remote location.

The ES230 DataNode’s are small and easy to install and configurable either at the local display or through the Encore Series Software. These instruments are capable of recording Volts, Amps, kW, kWh, kVA, kVAR, Power Factor, Harmonics, and a variety of other parameters simultaneously. They also have the option of RS232, RS485, or Ethernet communications and support native Modbus protocols. 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.

Manufacturing Process Unexpectedly Halted

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This medium-sized manufacturing facility, located in an industrial park that experienced an unexplained shutdown of several adjustable speed drives (ASDs) , wreaking havoc on key process equipment. Each day, at approximately 6 am, the utility-owned PF capacitor kicks on to improve the voltage of inductive loads prevalent in many of the park’s manufacturing facilities. The ASDs are conditioned to anticipate this expected power quality event and are typically able to ride through the problem. So when one of the ASDs closed down and interrupted the continuous stream manufacturing process, the facility manager needed to learn why, correct the problem, and prevent it from happening again.

As you can see from the attached screen capture, a second, unanticipated capacitor switching event occurred shortly after the first. This event was categorized by the Encore Series System Capacitor Switching Answer Module , enabling the facility manager to pinpoint the exact source of the problem. Further analysis showed that the ASD shutdown was the result of an overcurrent trip, which was quickly remedied preventing hours of downtime, at a loss of $10,000/hour.

Hospital's Power Outage Problem Solved

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.

Dranetz Case Study: Broadcast Studio Loses Video in Prime Time

In late 2011, a major broadcast company had a power outage that dropped live and pre-recorded television programming for 1½ hours to approximately 1/3 of the United States during the prime time viewing period.  The company lost vital revenue while electrical and facility engineers tried to determine the source of the problem and correct it.

Problem

After several failed attempts to restore the broadcasts, it was discovered that several new pieces of equipment had been brought online shortly before the outage.  The customer was able to restore broadcasting service by turning on all equipment except these new additions.

Upon further investigation, it was discovered that several of the electrical circuits which carry the load of the broadcast equipment were close to the maximum load rating. Adding the new equipment to these circuits was enough of a load to exceed the maximum rating, which tripped the circuit breakers and took down the entire broadcast system.  A review of the remaining facility showed that many of the electrical circuits were beyond 90% of their capacity.

Solution

The broadcast company installed three Dranetz Encore Series Branch Circuit Energy Monitoring (BCEM) systems.  The system is located in their primary broadcast distribution center and has 54 Dranetz ES210 DataNode’s.  The Dranetz BCEM and ES210’s will actively monitor the real-time loading and energy consumption across all of their primary electrical distribution circuits.  The BCEM’s were incorporated into their existing Encore Series Software server for real-time monitoring, alarming, and historical reporting of the electrical usage and patterns. In addition, the customers Building Management System (BMS) is simultaneously reading the BCEM data for redundant, centralized monitoring and alarming by the 24x7 building operational staff.

The Dranetz BCEM System (below) provides the broadcast company easy, centralized monitoring of energy, demand, power factor and much more from a single monitoring location.