Does anyone use AutoCAD Electrical for Substion Design? 1

[ky2010]

Hello everyone,

I am working for a power deliver company and we are currently using AutoCAD to create drawings for the wiring schematics and general wiring layouts in our substations. I was browsing the internet and stumble onto AutoCAD electrical but I haven't found a lot of information about it. Does anyone know of a company that uses AutoCAD electrical for their substation designs? I would like to know if this program actually increases productivity and if it works well for substation designs. Some sample drawings would be amazing. Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[vic3fan]

You're looking for a version of AutoCAD dedicated to the electrical engineering stuff. There is not such thing, as far as I know. You might find some software with electrical symbol "libraries" that can work with AutoCAD, but I know that these are not a part of AutoCAD package you can purchase from Autodesk.

Speaking about electrical symbols, I can tell that I've seen many different ways to show the same device and many different styles of doing electrical schematics, depending on company, even if there is an effort from ANSI/IEEE or CSA or whatever standards organization rules a piece of land somewhere. So I think you can take a look on what your company has used until now in its drawings and try to be consistent with that. Creating an electronic symbol library it can be an one-time process with some further easy-to-make updates. It also speaks about your company's 'personality'...

The productivity of using electronic files for drawings is obviously greater comparing to the traditional method: changes are done much faster; the drawing can be sent to plotter and you have time to work on another task; no special paper, special pens, etc.; the plotting has the same accuracy as it's shown on your screen; the same drawing can be easily plotted in different paper formats etc. And very important: do not forget to save your work often (once in 5 to 10 minutes hit the 'Save' button) and to save your files on a data CD or magnetic tape or whatever your computer network uses for backup.

 

[ky2010]

No there is actually a program called "AutoCAD Electrical." It looks amazing for electrical diagrams but I'm not sure how effecient it will be with substation design. Go to a search engine and type it in. Watch the demonstrations.

 

[vic3fan]

OK, my apologies, I didn't know that Autodesk has created this software for electrical schematics.

However, after I saw the demo, I can say that it was heavily "inspired" by the Rockwell Automation software which creates ladder logics for programs needed by Allen-Bradley PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers-see

http://www.ab.com).

These PLCs are used on large scale in industrial automation.

I don't think I can use this AutoCAD Electrical to design for example a DC Elementary Wiring Diagram for a protective relaying system with, say, a GE Multilin, used in power transmission and distribution area. The way this schematics have to look is not much compatible with the sofware features. But who knows, maybe I'm wrong again...

 

[xnuke]

AutoCAD Electrical specializes in control system design diagrams, not power system design diagrams, as vic3fan surmised. It handles relay ladder logic and PLC I/O drawings.

xnuke
"Do you think you used enough dynamite there, Butch?"
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[Climbmiller]

I beleive there is a company in the UK that has lots of useful information about AutoCAD Electrical on their web-site.

http://www.altasystems.co.uk.

You can also get trial CD's to try the software out !

 

[kaloy]

hello fellow EE's, AutoCAD in electrical system diagram may take you more time, I suggest Microsoft Visio..

 

[Blackcountryman]

You could look at Promis.E from ETC. Rockwell sell it as RSWire. We use it for schematics but I don't know if it is set up for single line diagrams.

There are two versions an ad on for AutoCADor a standalone version that uses the AutoCAD engine.

We've found it very quick and efficient, but like all these systems you need to set it up properly in the first place.

Drawings are saved in its own format or can be exported in .dxf but you loose some of the intelligence behind the objects. We use this option for record drawings that are given to clients.

Hope this is of interest

 

[paddywac]

I used to work for a developper of electrical CAD programs. The range is quite extensive. You could give them a call.

http://www.ige-xao.co.uk

They're French and the UK branch is based in Sheffield. It shouldn't be a problem getting a demo by one of their guys in your office. (they're multinational, if you're not in the UK) The contact details are on the website.