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Monitoring Power Quality
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The cost of power quality problems to businesses in the EU is estimated
at upwards of 10 billion euros per annum. Interestingly, 70-80% of the
problems are created by the businesses themselves rather than the supplier.
The costs associated with the equipment degradation, the disruption and
the downtime due to power quality problems can be almost incalculable.
It is therefore paramount for any essential power user to install, at
incoming and critical points of supply, power quality monitoring devices
that can:
provide advanced warning of potential problems
play a vital role in determining the nature and cause(s) of events
that have
occurred or that may do so in the future
With respect to power quality, the standard most commonly referred to
is BS EN50160:2000, which describes the characteristics of electricity
in terms of the alternating voltage at the customer's supply terminals.
It is important when selecting power quality monitoring equipment that
it is capable of recording all events as described in BS EN50160:2000
(e.g. voltage sags, flicker, transient overvoltages, harmonics etc.)
and that the device presents that information in terms of the acceptable
limits given by the standard.
To ensure that power quality monitoring devices are suitable for this
application, methods for the testing and measurement techniques for
this equipment are defined by the standard IEC 61000-4-30. We can supply,
install and commission power quality monitoring devices and analysis
software in both fixed and portable versions, including the first power
quality analyser to be certified as IEC 61000-4-30 Class A, thus enabling
the data recorded by this device to be used for contractual disputes.
In the case of harmonics, the more stringent limits detailed in the
Electricity Association's document G5/4 should be used as the basis
for the information to be recorded and the acceptable levels used by
the devices.
In addition, we can also analyse the data recorded by our power quality
monitoring devices and recommend cost effective solutions for a wide
range of problems.
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