Switchgear Thermal Monitoring

Manage Thermal Runaway Risk Around The Clock With a Switchgear Monitoring System

The inspection of electrical assets to monitor for abnormal operating conditions is fundamental to ensuring safe and reliable operation.As such many countries have regulatory drivers and standards for industries to reference and establish best practices against. Improperly maintained electrical assets can expose your business to uncontrolled safety, downtime, equipment loss and regulatory driven compliance risks.

Loose connections are associated with over 30% of equipment failures (Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance company). Is is not well understood that electrical connections have a design life as they appear very static in nature hower connection quality deteriorates with time due to impurity film buildup
 

 

PyrOptic offers the most reliable, economical and distrubutable fiber optic temperature alarm for electrical connections in the market. Our PyrOptic system consists of one or more PyrOnodes linked by a continuous length of plastic fiber optic (POF).For more details about please switchgear thermal monitoring and switchgear monitoring system visit our website.

 

“When current flows at the contact points, the respective electrons have to exit one busbar and enter the other. The microstructure of the busbar surfaces and the thicker or thinner impurity films are extremely important in this respect. The contact resistance Rü and therefore the joint resistance Rv increases with time as a result of impurity film buildup caused by chemical reactions, e.g. oxidation and corrosion. The busbar material can react with the ambient atmosphere or with the contamination and harmful gases it contains. Surfaces free of impurity films are achievable only in high vacuum.

Progressive film buildup increases the joint resistance Rv, heat losses and therefore the temperature of the joint, which in turn accelerates the chemical reaction producing the film buildup. This “vicious circle” of film buildup, heat loss and joint temperature can ultimately cause the busbar joint to fail totally as a result of overheating.” (Multi Contact, MultilamTechnology / 10.2004 / MC® - DTP).

Other causes of connection failure include thermal expansion & contractions, unbalanced and overloaded conditions, duty cycles, mechanical wear and stress, incorrect crimping of connections. improper cable training, vibrations and harmonics.
 

PyrOptic monitors electrical connections and contacts for degradation by sensing for over temperature conditions. A PyrOptic system consists of one or more PyrOnodes which are linked together by a continuous length of plastic optic fiber (POF). A PyrOnode will sever the POF at it’s location should the temperature rating be exceeded. A relay is used to automatically monitor the integrity of the loop and provide immediate feedback of the developing problem. In this way literally hundreds of points can be monitored on a single loop, the practical limitation typically being the level of segregation required for the application.

PyrOptic’s new concept is reliable, scalable, versatile and far more economical than the alternative technologies. PyrOptic is the first monitoring system suitable for mass deployment throughout electrical equipment and distribution systems enabling the elimination of routine inspections and thermography while offering superior risk mitigation outcomes.

Switchgear Monitoring System

PyrOptic is The Best Thermal Imaging Alternative

PyrOptic can check hundreds of electrical contacts and connections in milliseconds, presenting a real world alternative to thermal imaging.This is achieved by simply monitoring optical loop continuity which can be broken at any monitored point should the temperature threshold be exceeded.

The Problems With Thermal Imaging

Safety

Thermal imaging routines often expose more than just the thermographer to safety risks such as electrical personnel who may be required to remove panels from live equipment to conduct the inspection. Open electrical equipment can expose personnel to high incident energy (arc flash) risk amongst other hazards. Where thermal imaging windows are used, they can interfere with type test certification of switchgear. Special training and PPE are used to help reduce risk however these are poor solutions on the hierarchy of controls, especially now that various online monitoring systems exist that can eliminate the task.

PyrOptic eliminates these safety risks by automatically monitoring for abnormal temperatures, it’s that simple.

Accessibility

Infrared radiation cannot directly penetrate metalwork. Therefore the use of thermal imaging equipment, which only measures the surface temperature of components, is not a viable method for diagnosing internal faults in metal clad switchgear. It is possible for thermal imaging cameras to see through special viewing windows; however, these are not fitted as standard to switchgear and can interfere with type test certification and the internal arc management of switchgear. Detection of faults using infrared techniques also requires line of sight which further limits application and would require extensive use of viewing windows to identify defects in all compartments. These constraints, coupled with the small number of faults attributable to overheating means that the practicality and usefulness of employing the technique on metal clad switchgear is very limited. (Effective Condition Assessment of Medium Voltage Switchgear, Maintenance and Asset Management Article)

PyrOptic eliminates accessibility issues and can be installed deep inside compartments, even directly in oil immersed environments! A single 1mm diameter fiber optic core is all that is required to link virtually any number of PyrOnodes to form a comprehensive protection network. Each PyrOnodes is also very compact with dimensions of 6.4mm diameter and 22mm long.

Cost

Time-studies indicate that traditional open-panel inspections are very time-consuming.The man-hour costs can easily run to over $600 per panel. PPE suit-up and dress-down time is another costly task associated with traditional inspections. Costs can quickly exceed thousands of dollars per inspection cycle (10 Things You Need To Know About Infrared Windows, IRISS).

PyrOptic is an extremely low cost, virtually zero maintenance solution that protects monitored equipment 24/7 for decades. Depending on your current inspection intervals, a PyrOptic system can easily attain positive return on investment in under 12 months.

Summary

PyrOptic is the first of its kind solution to eliminate thermal imaging and other routine inspection activities in electrical equipment. It is compact, simple and rugged, it can even be installed directly in oil filled equipment. The optical loop is formed by a tough, high temperature plastic fiber optic (POF) with Nylon 12 outer jacket, the same material used in automotive fuel systems for its high chemical resistance and low moisture absorption. The POF can be applied directly to live electrical components. Air gap segmentation in the optical loop can be introduced using lenses allowing service at virtually any voltage level. This feature also eliminates potential tracking paths and allows the optical loop to exist between stationary and moving objects.

Online temperature monitoring of electrical contacts and connections can eliminate the need for various routine inspection tasks. There are many drivers to conduct inspections including regulatory, safety, cost management and reliability. PyrOptic has completely changed the process of managing the risk pertaining to electrical connection failures. The switchgear monitoring system has the ability to manage risks round the clock by using a new concept that leverages optical loop integrity.This concept is scalable, versatile, economical and highly reliable.