Power Quality Audit
- Power Quality Study determines the health of the electrical to load ends, Absence of proper power; an electrical load may malfunction, fail prematurely or not operate at all
- Quality of electrical power may be described as a set of values of parameter such as - Continuity of service, Variation in voltage magnitude, Transient voltage current harmonics content in the waveforms for AC power.
- Power Quality Audits identifies power quality issues; help to address reliability and stability concerns before they actually impact on performance.
- All these unwanted parameters can increase in power consumption, heating of equipment and wiring malfunctioning or even damage.
Power Quality could be broadly explained as the relative frequency and severity of deviations in the incoming power from the steady or fundamental 50 Hz, sinusoidal waveform of voltage or current spikes, switching transients, voltage swells, electrical line noise, Blackouts and other power problems before those results in data corruption, equipment damage, or system downtime.
Power quality is affected from both sides of the grid, referring both to the quality and reliability of power as supplied by the utility and to the type and effect of customer loads on the transmission system.
The following are the types of power quality problems:
1.Harmonics: It is a distortion of the utility supplied waveform and are caused by “non-linear” loads, which include motor controls, computers, office equipment, luminaries, controllers, dimmers, electronic loads, High harmonics increase the line losses and decrease the equipment lifetime. Total harmonic distortion (THD) measures the degree to which the input is distorted, and is the relative value of all the harmonics combined, as a percentage of the fundamental current.
2.Transients: Commonly called swells, surges and spikes, transients are the most frequent types of power quality problems and often the easiest to fix. The difficulty with transients is in detection since they manifest only as a short- duration change in voltage.
3.Brownouts: These are hours-long voltage sags caused by system overload. These are tending to damage equipment, but such fluctuations are common in developing countries.
4.Reliability: It refers to the probability of maintaining a continuous supply of electricity without interruption.
Power quality can affect electrical systems adversely and also result in spike in utility cost. We at A2Z GLOBAL ENERGY SOLUTIONS study these impacts of power quality and help you work your way around it and get the best out of your energy cost.
How to affect PQ Problems
- Higher energy consumption and high current load.
- Penalties incurred for exceeding Tariffs.
- Production Quality & Quantity losses.
- Financial Losses due to stoppage.
- Increase in Reactive power consumption.
- Reduced life cycle of equipment.
- Additional investment for over sizing of equipment.
- Energy wastage.
- Increased Maintenance and Service cost.
- Over Voltage/Under Voltage/Sag/Swell/Electrical Noise/ Surges/Spikes
Why PQA required
- To improve power factor & system efficiency.
- To avoid Break-downs & production Interruptions.
- To avoid excess Energy consumption.
- To remove Harmonics, Surges & Transients from electrical Network.
- To avoid Voltage/Frequency fluctuations & PLC Hang-up. Avoid transformer overheat, Capacitor burst, Trip etc.
- Savings in Energy Bills due to reduced losses & KVA demands, Accurate measurements.
- Better production rate and quality, Enhanced Life cycle of electrical network & component.
- Maximize plant distribution capacity.
