Engineering Services
Engineering ServicesPOWER QUALITY ANALYSIS
Have you been observing anomalies recently regarding the operation of your electrical equipment, perhaps due to nuisance tripping, or a less than stellar expected life cycle? Not unlike dirty gasoline in your motorized vehicle which can hinder expected performance, the quality of your facility’s electrical power can result in a similar outcome for your electrical equipment and lighting systems.
The symptoms are not always that obvious…in fact, many situations that our Smith & Long Engineering Services Group come across it turns out are not new situations at all…unfortunately, it’s just that all too often facility operators, plant managers, supervisors, etc., have resigned themselves to (the untruth that) “this is just the way it is here” and that the mysterious random equipment shutdowns and or premature equipment failures are “simply the cost of doing business”!
The Smith & Long Engineering Services Group will come to your facility, carefully listen to your various issues and concerns taking special note of the timing and repeatability of issues, i.e. time of day, what production and facility loads might be on at that time, etc. A plan of action will subsequently be prepared and presented which may involve further physical investigation, and in many cases, it will involve electrical system data logging over a given period, be it days or weeks to ensure a full power cycle has been observed and appropriate data capture obtained.
The datalogging might be performed at a single location such as at the main electrical switchboard, or at a sub-service within your facility if the suspect circuitry is localized. Alternatively, a significant number of points can be logged simultaneously to best capture the dynamic activity of your electrical system at the same time. The logged data will be subsequently reported in a graphical overlay format to better understand any potentially associated events or faults.
After the analysis of logged power data has been performed, the Smith & Long Engineering Services Group will subsequently produce and submit a report to you for your consideration. The report will be written in clear and concise language complete with an action plan for the mitigation of any identified power quality issues.
There are many causes for poor power quality, some of which are surprisingly simple to mitigate. Sometimes a problematic power quality solution is found through the basic best practices of instituting a regular program of Proactive Electrical Maintenance which will include thorough “terminal maintenance” (physical inspection and re-torqueing of all visible electrical connections) service. This process often solves many issues caused by loose conductors, especially in the case of neutral / grounding or power conductors, let alone at the same time identifying other potential future issues. Other reasons contributing to poor power quality can be triggered by internal or external LDC (Local Distribution Company) events through electrically “noisy” equipment or systems affecting power factor, harmonic distortion, circuit overloading due to the prevalence of non-linear loads, transient voltages, phase imbalance, voltage sags and swells, etc.
Contact the Smith & Long Engineering Services Group to effectively identify and solve your power quality issues…issues that you may not have realized were power quality related in the first place. The resultant ROI from such an undertaking will very quickly be realized as a sound investment decision and the previously ongoing issues thankfully will no longer be referred to as… “simply the cost of doing business”!