Power Quality Meter Location 1

[Okpower]

Hi all:

I have 2 questions for a new oil plant electrical system design, about Power Quality Meters:

.- How valuable is to install a permanent Power quality meter in the new plant?

.- Where should this device be installed (Control rooms, main substations??)

I found some tips from the web, but i want experts opinions.

Thanks

 

[davidbeach]

It depends. What do you want to know about your power quality?

 

[DanDel]

If you're asking about one instrument, then the PQ meter is typically installed at the Main incoming switchboard. If you want to install more than one, they can also be installed at every downstream substation or switchboard.

 

[YuriSarcas]

I would install the PQ meter on the section that it is metering. It helps to avoid confusion later.

I agree with DanDel that you can put them on every main and substation/distribution that you have. I you want to read them all at one central point then most PQ meters on the market now have some sort of communications. Install them on the panels you want to meter and then run comms back to a control room SCADA type system to monitor all.

 

[ausgen]

To help with your first question, how valuable it is depends on how critical your loads are and how important it is to understand the details of any supply issues. If you decide that it's important to have some idea of what's going on, your next step is to decide how much info you need. Basic steady state metering is relatively cheap. Swell and sag functionality costs more. Transient (high speed sampling) costs more again. High level comms (RS485, TCP/IP, etc) might be more on top. Then there's software licensing if you want remote data access.

I agree with the others that primary PQ metering is usually installed on the incoming supply. Downstream circuits would typically be lower spec to reduce cost.