OEM's of partial discharge test equipments 4

[edison123]

I am looking for reputed OEM's of partial discharge test equipments (both off-line and on-line) for large MV motors and generators.

Anyone have references or recommendations ? Thanks.

Muthu

http://www.edison.co.in

 

[TheBlacksmith]

IRIS Power Engineering.

http://www.irispower.com/

 

[edison123]

Thx TBS. I'll take a look at Iris.

I looked at Doble but they seem to be the Rolls Royce of the brands.

Muthu

http://www.edison.co.in

 

[electricpete]

We have the IRIS equipment with coupling capacitors on 30 larger 13.2kv motors. By and large we have good luck.

I would definitely consider the engineering support as an important part of the decision. If you're like me, there will be situations examining data on a running machine or inspecting a motor in the shop that you really need some reliable help. Iris has the expertise to do that very well - sometimes for free, sometimes requires paying a small fee which is not a problem IMO.

I suspect Doble also provides good engineering support since they have always had a large staff of knowledgable engineers, especially in my old dealings with them on transformers. Also many papers showing they value expertise as an asset.

If you go on down the line to some other vendors I'm not sure if you'll get as much engineering support. I think Cutler Hammer also offers some kind of PD monitoring.

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[edison123]

Thanks pete. I agree engg support is vital. Could you possibly tell me how much your Iris kit cost ? Is it an off-line test kit ?

Muthu

http://www.edison.co.in

 

[Zogzog]

Call these guys and ask for Don. He has tried everything out there and has helped develop some of them. He will be glad to help you make a decision.

http://www.nooutageelectricaltesting.com/

 

[edison123]

Thanks zog. I sent him an email through with his website.

Muthu

http://www.edison.co.in

 

[edison123]

ooops. The mail didn't go through and the site doesn't list the mail id. Guess I need to call him.

Muthu

http://www.edison.co.in

 

[electricpete]

What's the cost?

I wasn't working in 1997 when the plant bought the original sensors and test box.

In 2007 we did buy a new text box and software (both were somewhat obsolete) and a laptop was in the package as well.

I was involved in the 2007 purchase but my memory fails me. Two numbers stick in my mind: $15,000 and $40,000. I will have to check my old emails back at work next Monday.

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[Addy71]

Muthu,

We are using MICAMAXX from PD Tech, Switzerland; as is ABB Lenzohm. Quite happy with it, I believe ABB is buying one more. They have a branch office in Delhi (Contact Sudhanshu Gupta).

ERDA is using OSM from IPEC, UK; they are quite satisfied too.

Regards,

Aditya

 

[edison123]

Thank you Aditya. I will talk with Mr Gupta tomorrow.

Muthu

http://www.edison.co.in

 

[electricpete]

I checked on the price of our purchase from Iris in June 2006.

$38,000 – TGA-B test box with new software PD-Lite Pro

$10,000 – Upgrade to old test box to be compatible with new software. (We want two boxes so we have a backup).

$4,000 – Bus Multiplexor (allow testing all three phases without changing connections between measurements).

Total: $52k.


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[electricpete]

Could you possibly tell me how much your Iris kit cost ?

See above

Is it an off-line test kit ?

It is an on-line kit that works together with our permanently-installed pd coupling capacitors and a box with resistor, coax connection etc. I think the same kit is used with ac hi-pot for off-line testing, but there may be some additional equipment required for off-line test... I remember when I saw the off-line test done in the shop once, they had a big loop of special wire... I can't recall the purpose of that.

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[edison123]

Thank you pete for your valued tips and clarification about on-line and off-line kits. My, those numbers ...

I'm waiting for quotes from both, Iris Power and Doble. I'll also contact the companies referred by Aditya today. Hopefully someone will give me a number within my budget.

Muthu

http://www.edison.co.in

 

[edison123]

Aditya - I spoke with Mr Gupta today and have asked for a quote. Thanks.



Muthu

http://www.edison.co.in

 

[edison123]

Aditya - Just got e-mail from IPEC, UK. Apparently, they make PD equipments only for substation equipments.

Muthu

http://www.edison.co.in

 

[electricpete]

I went back and looked at some old photo’s to refresh my memory about the large cable used during off-line test. Attached is a photo of the cable looped in a big circle above the two coupling capacitors.

I remember now the purpose was simply to allow use of a motor coupler and a system coupler to discriminate between pulses coming from motor and those coming from the power supply based, on time of flight. The cable provides the time delay between two couplers. In the plant on-line test we only use one coupler (per phase) and no system measurement… we have a long run of cable to all motors and no concerns about any pd-like pulses that might be originating from the system. I’m not sure why there would be pulses coming from the ac hi-pot during off-line test, either, but the shop went to some trouble to set it up this way... there must be a reason.


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[Addy71]

Muthu,

IPEC makes the OSM Longshot that ERDA bought earlier this year, perhaps discontinued now.

Omicron is another good company that too has an office in Delhi. More expensive than PD Tech & single-channel base version (PD Tech is 4-channel).

PCI markets LDIC products which are quite reputed, very expensive though.

EPete,

While doing off-line PD testing, we first take a measurement of the PD from the HV supply & then on the machine. Normally, PD from HV supply is nominal except where grounding was improper. In those cases, we select a higher Fmin to exclude the supply PD. Works quite well.

Regards,

Aditya