Automated circuit breaker analysis /
A circuit breaker is a fundamental component of every power system that is used to disconnect power system apparatus that experience faults and to switch apparatus and parts in and out of the system during normal load-flow operations. Due to their large importance in a power system, the circuit br...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
2002.
|
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | A circuit breaker is a fundamental component of every power system that is used to disconnect power system apparatus that experience faults and to switch apparatus and parts in and out of the system during normal load-flow operations. Due to their large importance in a power system, the circuit breakers need to be operational at all times. To ensure that the breakers are functioning correctly, the electrical utilities send technicians out to the breaker locations to perform routine maintenance and testing activities. The tests usually require the connection of a data acquisition device to selected points in the control circuit of the breaker. After the device has been connected, the technician manually operates the breaker to obtain data in electronic and printed format. The technician compares the printed signals against stored reference patterns to reach a conclusion about the status of the breaker. If a problem is discovered, the technician fixes it before moving on to the next breaker. This approach to circuit breaker maintenance takes a significant amount of time for the technicians to go out to each and every breaker and perform tests. This report describes a solution that attempts to improve the maintenance process by analyzing the circuit breaker data with an expert system. This helps to automate the process by eliminating the need for a technician to visually analyze the recorded signals. It also guarantees that the analysis of all future recordings will be carried out in a consistent manner. The output of the expert system is a concise event report that describes any abnormalities that are discovered in the recorded signals and suggests corrective action to be taken. The expert system has been tested with actual test data acquired from a Westinghouse distribution circuit breaker owned and operated by Reliant Energy HL&P in Houston. The test results show that the system performs well and is able to detect a wide variety of problems. The results also indicate a strong sensitivity to the preprocessing of the input data. More work is required to adapt this system to other breaker types. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | Vita. "Major subject: Electrical Engineering". |
| Physical Description: | xii, 119 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from Lange Micrographics. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-118). |