The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has launched a new national emphasis program (NEP) to help prevent heat-related illnesses at outdoor and indoor workplaces, including electrical contractors and other wiring installation contractors (2017 NAICS Code 2382). The program, CPL 03-00-024 Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards, was announced by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh with Vice President Kamala Harris …
Nearly 70 percent of early equipment failures can be traced to design, installation, or startup deficiencies. That’s why it is so important to protect a data center’s investment in new equipment or systems with acceptance testing. A thorough check of electrical power systems and components before energization can uncover and help correct problems that otherwise would lead to project schedule …
People often refer to power factor without understanding that there are two types of power factor measurement, and it is important to understand the difference between them. If you have a power factor problem, it could mean you have: A power factor correction problem that requires adding (or taking away) capacitors A combination of a power factor correction problem and …
Circuit breakers are indispensable in any electrical power system. They are the only piece of equipment that can switch not only under normal load, but also under fault conditions. They must be able to reliably disconnect a faulty section from the grid as quickly as possible. Circuit breakers must be able to meet this requirement even after they have been …
Along the extensive and complex electrical system infrastructure from generation to transmission and distribution, the wide variety of medium- and high-voltage circuit breakers (MV/HV CB) vary in size, interrupting medium, number of breaks per phase, and various other attributes. To help classify breakers and their attributes, they are all shipped with a nameplate stating the minimum information about specific mechanical, …
Microgrids are gaining ground in different parts of the world with each passing year. In the United States, one of the main drivers advancing the concept of microgrid was Hurricane Sandy. This hurricane, which hit the northeast part of the US in 2012, caused havoc with the transmission and distribution system. The advantages presented by smaller, self-sustaining grids began to …
For some companies, deciding whether to perform power monitoring studies with their own in-house professionals or subcontract the work out may be a real toss-up. There is no general right answer, but there is a right answer for you. That answer may change over time. This article is a guide to making (and revising) that decision. To be clear, this …
The health index (HI) approach has been adopted widely as a tool to help asset managers prioritize their plans and actions. However, the conventional computation of HI, which is based on scoring and ranking, has several drawbacks. In this work, the fuzzy logic approach is used to build up an intelligent HI system to assess the condition of power transformers …
Along the extensive and complex electrical system infrastructure from generation to transmission and distribution, the wide variety of medium- and high-voltage circuit breakers (MV/HV CB) vary in size, interrupting medium, number of breaks per phase, and various other attributes. To help classify breakers and their attributes, they are all shipped with a nameplate stating the minimum information about specific mechanical, …
Conventional testing of medium- and high-voltage circuit breakers (MV/HV CBs) involves measuring the timing and travel of the main contacts and their corresponding resistors (pre- or post-insertion) if any, along with the current profile of the operating coils, and occasionally the timing of auxiliary contacts. This article explains several techniques available to improve or extend the scope of testing. Aspects …