switchgear

The original vision of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) was to communicate the status and conditions of smart assets to centralized software applications that would aggregate, perform analysis, identify risks, and intelligently guide human actions.A major problem with this vision is that existing capital assets are not “smart”.In order to obtain equipment status data, new sensors must be added to the asset or sensor data (if any) must be extracted from the installed automation system.
Therefore, many early work in the field of industrial Internet of Things focused on “large rotating machines”; capital-intensive rotating equipment, such as large motors, engines, generators, turbines, compressors, etc.These devices are usually already equipped with some condition monitoring instruments, or can be modified relatively easily to provide these critical data.But when it comes to passive or non-rotating assets (such as electrical switchgear), the IIoT model is also suitable.Although such equipment may be an absolutely critical task for factories, plants, airports or data centers, it remains largely unmonitored and invisible.
Today, a new generation of switchgear embeds more sensing capabilities and includes built-in connections to facilitate higher-level applications for advanced control, data aggregation, and analysis.
Recently, some medium voltage switchgears have sensing capabilities (mainly temperature and current).What makes the latest product unique is the high level of sensing built into the device and the reason for this additional sensing.The additional sensing is a supplement to the control of the switchgear.The measurement performed by the new sensor is an indicator of the condition and reliability of key components and the overall switchgear.The new sensor is specifically used to provide performance indicators of mechanical and electrical characteristics.In addition, these measurements are not only performed during maintenance, but also continuously every time the switchgear is operated.
The nearby table provides a list of some of the measurements available in the latest equipment design.However, a few examples can better illustrate the potential value provided by this new wealth of information.
First of all, in any electrical switchgear, the trip chain assembly is the most critical.These provide protection functions.In a medium voltage switchgear, this chain consists of a trip coil, which in turn triggers a mechanism.This mechanism mechanically opens the vacuum interrupter contacts, thereby stopping the current flow and extinguishing any arcs.Even if the trip function is activated by only one electrical fault during the approximately 40-year service life of the switchgear, correct operation at that moment is the most important.The problem with existing switchgear is that although some electrical measurements are continuously available, the performance of key mechanical components of the trip chain is only measured during regular maintenance (if that time).Except through offline maintenance and testing, the data needed to evaluate the overall performance of the switchgear cannot be obtained by any other means.
In contrast, the most advanced equipment measures the speed of the trip mechanism at each operation, regardless of whether the operation is planned or protective.At the local level, this information provides an indication of the health of the mechanism.However, the same information can be historically recorded and summarized to achieve more certain trends, condition assessment, diagnosis, and predictive maintenance.
The second example of the new sensor is the measurement of the corrosion gap of the contact of a vacuum interrupter.Over time and multiple high-current operations, these contacts may corrode slightly.But considering the high currents and power involved, even a small erosion (less than 1 mm) can be very significant.The device can now measure the position, alignment of the mechanism and corrosion of the interrupter contacts.Again, this is information about the condition of the circuit breaker and is only available during offline maintenance of traditional switchgear.Measure after each operation to provide measurement and verification instructions for the status of the switchgear.
One important point about the new sensing capabilities is that its design focuses on the most critical measurements, not just those that are easily available.Switchgear design should add sensing to specific areas that have historically proven to be the main source of switchgear problems.Therefore, new sensor data is directly related to equipment health and performance.By historically recording, summarizing and analyzing these data, more value can be obtained, no matter if this is done by the owner operator or by the equipment OEM through managed services.
The most important operational safety and convenience consideration is the ability to perform equipment operations from a safe distance.Electrical equipment injury is a serious health and safety issue.In the United States alone, there are thousands of electrical accidents every year, and 5 to 10 arc flash accidents occur every day.These incidents can be devastating to the health of workers, and costly.OSHA estimates that the medical cost of arc damage may exceed $1 million.In addition, there are equipment damage, power outages, business losses, and potential regulatory actions.However, the ability to interact with medium voltage electrical equipment from a safe distance can mitigate many safety hazards, including arc flash.
The switchgear should support a multi-functional human-machine interface (HMI), which can be operated in many locations on many devices.The HMI should be able to be evaluated through the panel display mounted on the enclosure.But in the preferred case, the same interface should be mirrored to a handheld tablet or even a mobile phone via a wireless network.
This allows operations to be carried out from a convenient location and maintain a safe distance from the equipment itself.Supported operations shall include monitoring of the status and conditions of racks, switching and switching equipment.Through this remote function, next-generation switchgear can enhance operating practices, making it safer and faster.All day-to-day operations of the equipment, whether it is visual inspection, document recording, operation, or shelf placement of circuit breakers, can be completed through these digital operations.
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is the use of sensor data from connected assets and machines to enhance and transform industrial products, manufacturing operations, business processes, and even business models.IIoT, also known as the “Industrial Internet” or Industry 4.0, uses the power of smart devices and real-time analysis to obtain value from data previously hidden in industrial operations.The idea behind the Industrial Internet of Things is that smart machines and systems are better than humans in capturing and analyzing data in real time and communicating important information that can drive more effective business decisions.
In order to aggregate, manage, and derive value from smart devices, IIoT requires some form of architecture to abstract heterogeneous devices and enable data and analysis to serve multiple use cases and applications, not just one.Most IIoT architectures have three layers:
In addition to sensing, connectivity is an important feature of new device design.Connected products support both local integration and aggregation of data from multiple devices in one or more installations.Aggregated data provides analysis and provides value on a broader level.
The “edge” layer is actually a series of hardware and software.In most cases, connected product data is aggregated and managed at the edge.In some cases where latency or data volume is too large to be transmitted (such as video streaming), analysis and applications may be performed at edge computing nodes rather than in the data center or cloud.
The application and analysis layer brings cloud-level scale to data storage, analysis, and other large-scale applications.This layer is usually cloud-hosted, and even if it is not, it often uses the same software and tools as cloud computing.
Not every electrical installation needs or needs all of these higher-level IIoT applications and services.However, let’s highlight some examples of the ways in which IIoT-enabled installations bring benefits and are complemented by these solutions.
In addition to embedded sensing and intelligence, the new design can also significantly reduce the space requirements for new installations and renovations.Compared with traditional switchgear, the space saved by these designs can be reduced by up to 20-30%.
For new installations, the reduction in electrical infrastructure space means that more building space can be dedicated to the task itself instead of supporting the infrastructure.For very costly structures (for example, offshore installations), the space cost can be very high, and the space savings determined at the design stage are of great value because they reduce the overall size of the structure.Modular power equipment designs (such as electronic houses used in data centers) also benefit from a smaller switchgear footprint.This will result in a smaller E-house module footprint, reduced support structure, and easier transportation to the site.
In retrofit applications, installing new equipment into existing spaces is essential to avoid the capital cost and operational hassle of building additional infrastructure space.Designing with devices that take up less space can also “create” spare space in a room that is now full.
In both cases, the owner-operator also benefits from the higher reliability that smart infrastructure can provide, especially infrastructure that can indicate potential problems during normal operation, so as to actively direct maintenance resources to areas where they are most needed.
Intelligent equipment is an extremely important design innovation.However, equipment design that far exceeds expectations is another key to quality and reliability.The widely accepted ANSI requirement is that MV switchgear is designed for 10,000 operations at zero load.The latest modern devices with embedded monitoring functions can far exceed this requirement, and are designed to perform up to 30,000 operations under full rated load.This provides conclusive evidence that the electromechanical system will work reliably during its lifetime.The end user should look for evidence that the design of the new device exceeds regulatory requirements.
Such design standards may seem impractical.No power infrastructure should experience close to this number of interruptions, even within a lifetime of several decades.But the fact that the design can meet higher standards proves the robustness and quality of the design, and also proves that it will provide excellent service under the less stringent requirements of normal equipment life.
Two recent Schneider Electric products illustrate all these trends.One is EvoPacT, a medium voltage vacuum circuit breaker with important embedded sensing functions.The second is SureSet, which is a new series of medium voltage switchgear, which extends the sensing and connection of EvoPacT.Both are examples of a new generation of such devices—combined with more sensing and connectivity, and provide owners and operators with a higher level of reliability and value.
EcoStruxure is Schneider Electric’s interoperable IIoT architecture and platform, which extends from industry to data centers, infrastructure, buildings, and even homes.EcoStruxure is divided into three main layers; 1) connected products, 2) edge control, and 3) applications, analytics and services.
EvoPacT and SureSet switchgear form part of the EcoStruxure Connected Products layer.Although this layer adds significant value, asset owner operators also need to understand how the upper layers of the EcoStruxure Power stack can further enhance the value of smart devices, and how they can further transform operations and maintenance.Higher-level EcoStruxure products and services can further improve and transform the electrical infrastructure and the key operations it supports.
The obvious trend for critical infrastructure equipment is to replace “invisible” equipment with more modern equipment that can measure and report on their condition and provide the same information to support predictive maintenance, high availability, and other types of analytical applications optimization.
Schneider Electric’s combination of self-inducing EvoPacT circuit breakers in the SureSet series of medium voltage switchgear, which in turn, combined with its ExoStruxure Power application, is a good example of how the IIoT vision is now further extended to run time in key equipment that was previously unachievable Check.
Schneider Electric’s advanced software products (such as EcoStruxure Asset Advisor) are examples of using equipment health data and providing advice on asset health and even power efficiency through analysis and/or artificial intelligence.Hiring human domain experts allows end users to benefit from the best human expertise in analyzing and detecting problems.This makes them turn to predictive maintenance.
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Keywords: IIoT, equipment health, EvoPacT, metal-clad switchgear, MV, sensing, SureSet, Schneider Electric, ARC consulting group.