Patent Application
20250104948
Energy Reduction Maintenance Switches (ERMS) are commonly used in upstream high voltage switchgears that may include high voltage circuit breakers and transformers. When an ERMS that is connected to a high voltage breaker is activated, it reduces the Arc Flash energy level on the bus of the circuit breaker. For example, the ERMS reduces the Arc Flash energy level on a line side of a 480 Volt (V) circuit breaker and on a connection point of a secondary side of a 480 V transformer. When the ERMS is “ON” (i.e., is activated) prior to and while performing maintenance activities on the transformer or circuit breaker, the ERMS provides protection for a fault in the transformer or circuit breaker by lowering an Arc Flash incident energy on the bus of the switchgear by activating instantaneous settings in the protection relay. After the maintenance activities are completed, the ERMS is switched back to “OFF” position (i.e., will be deactivated) to adjust back the protection settings of the switchgear.
A conventional ERMS requires human intervention prior to and after the maintenance activities and therefore it may be subjected to human errors. In addition, the conventional ERMS may be installed in remote upstream high voltage switchgears, which may not be easily accessible to monitor from a maintenance location. Therefore, any human error that occurs on the conventional ERMS may be difficult to be diagnosed and resolved. For example, if a maintenance operator forgets to deactivate the ERMS after the maintenance has been performed, leaving the activated ERMS in the switchgear may compromise protection of the switchgear.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor it is intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
This disclosure presents, in accordance with one or more embodiments, an Energy Reducing Maintenance Switch (ERMS). The ERMS includes: a first switch that is normally open; a coil that is controlled by the first switch; a relay having instantaneous settings; a first normally-open contact that is controlled by the coil; a delay timer; and a second normally-open contact that is controlled by the delay timer. The coil is charged upon closing the first switch. The ERMS closes the first normally-open contact and energizes upon charging the coil. The delay timer starts to count from a first present time to a second preset time upon closing the first normally-open contact. The ERMS closes the second normally-open contact upon the delay timer starting to count. The ERMS activates the instantaneous settings of the relay, by activating an input signal to the relay, upon closing the second normally-open contact. While the delay timer counts from the first preset time to the second preset time, the second normally-open contact is closed.
In another aspect, this disclosure presents, in accordance with one or more embodiments, a method for operating an ERMS. The method comprises: charging a coil of the ERMS by closing a first switch of the ERMS, wherein the first switch is normally open; closing a first normally-open contact of the ERMS and energizing the ERMS by charging the coil; starting a delay timer of the ERMS, to count from a first present time to a second preset time, when the first normally-open contact is closed; closing a second normally-open contact of the ERMS upon starting the delay timer to count; activating instantaneous settings of a relay of the ERMS, by activating an input signal to the relay, upon closing the second normally-open contact; and while the delay timer counts from the first preset time to the second preset time, keeping the second normally-open contact of the ERMS closed.
In another aspect, this disclosure presents, in accordance with one or more embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM) storing instructions for performing an operation on an ERMS. The operation comprises: charging a coil of the ERMS by closing a first switch of the ERMS, wherein the first switch is normally open; closing a first normally-open contact of the ERMS and energizing the ERMS by charging the coil; starting a delay timer of the ERMS, to count from a first present time to a second preset time, when the first normally-open contact is closed; activating the instantaneous settings of a relay of the ERMS, by activating an input signal to the relay, when the delay timer starts to count; closing a second normally-open contact of the ERMS upon starting the delay timer to count; and while the delay timer counts from the first preset time to the second preset time, keeping the second normally-open contact of the ERMS closed.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims.
Specific embodiments of the disclosed technology will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying figures. Like elements in the various figures are denoted by like reference numerals for consistency. The sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the shapes of various elements and angles are not necessarily drawn to scale, and some of these elements may be arbitrarily enlarged and positioned to improve drawing legibility. Further, the particular shapes of the elements as drawn are not necessarily intended to convey any information regarding the actual shape of the particular elements and have been solely selected for ease of recognition in the drawing.
In the following detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the description.
Throughout the disclosure, ordinal numbers (e.g., first, second, third, etc.) may be used as an adjective for an element (i.e., any noun in the application). The use of ordinal numbers is not to imply or create any particular ordering of the elements nor to limit any element to being only a single element unless expressly disclosed, such as using the terms “before,” “after,” “single,” and other such terminology. Rather, the use of ordinal numbers is to distinguish between the elements. By way of an example, a first element is distinct from a second element, and the first element may encompass more than one element and succeed (or precede) the second element in an ordering of elements. In addition, throughout the disclosure, “or” is interpreted as “and/or,” unless stated otherwise.
Embodiments disclosed herein describe an Energy Reducing Maintenance Switch (ERMS) that can reduce human error during operation of the ERMS, for example after performing maintenance on a high voltage switchgear that is in connection with the ERMS. After the maintenance activities are completed, the ERMS must be deactivated to adjust back the protection settings of the switchgear from incidents such as a fault, short circuit, high load, or ripples in the switchgear. Therefore, leaving the ERMS active (ON) after the maintenance is completed may compromise protection of the switchgear. In some cases where the switchgear is installed in a remote area, if a conventional ERMS is left active in connection with the switchgear, it may take long until an operator identifies the active ERMS and deactivates it. Accordingly, with respect to a switchgear in a remote area, leaving a conventional ERMS active may increase the possibility of damaging the switchgear. One or more embodiments disclosed herein describe an ERMS and methods and systems to automatically deactivate an ERMS via a delay timer after a preset time period is past even if an operator has inadvertently left the ERMS active in connection with the switchgear.
A conventional ERMS is usually installed on the front panel of a switchgear, as shown in
A circuit diagram of a conventional ERMS (202) in connection with a switchgear (200) is shown in
According to the embodiments disclosed herein, a delay timer is used in an ERMS to insure that the ERMS will be automatically deactivated after a preset time period is past, even if the ERMS was not manually deactivated.
According to one or more embodiments, when the first switch (314) is pressed, the coil (304) will be charged (i.e., energized/activated). The coil may be an electromagnetic coil that controls closing or opening circuit breaker contacts (e.g., the first normally-open contact (320)). For example, for closing the contacts of the circuit breaker and connecting the circuit, the coil is charged. The charged coil creates a magnetic field around the coil that attracts the moving parts of the circuit breaker mechanism, aiding in the closing of the contacts.
The charged coil (304) will close the first normally-open contact (320). Upon closing the first normally-open contact (320), the ERMS will be energized and the light indicator (306) will turn ON, which shows that the ERMS is activated. In addition, upon closing the first normally-open contact (320), the delay timer (310) will start counting from a first preset time to a second preset time. As the delay timer (310) starts to count, the second normally-open contact (312) will be closed instantaneously and the input signal will activate the instantaneous settings in the relay (308). When the delay timer (310) reaches the second preset time, the delay timer (310) will stop and the normally-closed contact (316) will be opened to deactivate the whole circuit. The deactivation of the circuit via the normally-closed contact (316) leads to turning OFF the light indicator (306) and deactivation of the input signal to the instantaneous settings of the relay (308). Herein, the time period between the first preset time and the second preset time is called the “preset time period.”
In one or more embodiments, The instantaneous settings of the relay (308) can be deactivated or by pressing the second switch (318), which is normally closed, to open the second switch (318). For example, if the operator finishes the work on the switchgear before the delay timer (310) reaches the second preset time, the operator can press and open the second switch (318) to deactivate the instantaneous settings of the relay (308). Opening the closed second switch (318) opens the ERMS circuit, de-energizes whole ERMS circuit and also deactivates the input signal to the relay (308) to deactivate the instantaneous settings of the relay.
In one or more embodiments, the delay timer (310) may count down the preset time period and when the delay timer (310) finishes the preset time period and stops, then the normally-closed contact (316) will be opened. Opening the normally-closed contact (316) opens the circuit of the ERMS, opens the second normally-open contact (312), and deactivates the input signal to the relay (308) to turn off instantaneous settings.
In one or more embodiments, the instantaneous settings of the relay will be deactivated when the delay timer (310) reaches the second preset time, when the timer stops counting or when the second switch (318) is opened, whichever occurs first. When the delay timer (310) stops counting or when the second switch (318) is opened, the ERMS deactivates the input signal to the relay (308) and thereby deactivates the instantaneous settings of the relay.
In view of the above, an operator does not need to deactivate the ERMS since the delay timer (310) will automatically deactivate the instantaneous settings of the relay when the preset time period is past. In addition, the operator can de-energize the ERMS circuit by pressing second switch (318) when the maintenance activities are completed before the preset time of the delay timer (310) runs out.
In one or more embodiments, any of Steps 405-425, 435, and 440 may occur instantaneously or simultaneously with one another such that the time delays between any of these steps may be negligible in view of the operator. In addition, any of Steps 450, 455, and 460 may also occur instantaneously or simultaneously with one another such that the time delays between any of these steps may be negligible in view of the operator. Further, Steps 465 and 460 may also occur instantaneously or simultaneously with one another such that the time delay between these steps may be negligible in view of the operator.
In Step 500, a coil of an ERMS is charged by closing a first switch of the ERMS, wherein the first switch is normally open.
In Step 505, a first normally-open contact of the ERMS is closed and the ERMS is energized by charging the coil.
In Step 510, a delay timer of the ERMS starts to count from a first present time to a second preset time, when the first normally-open contact is closed.
In Step 515, a second normally-open contact of the ERMS is closed, when the delay timer starts to count.
In Step 520, instantaneous settings of the relay activate, by activating an input signal to the relay, upon closing the second normally-open contact.
In Step 525, while the delay timer counts from the first preset time to the second preset time, the second normally-open contact of the ERMS is kept closed.
The method may include one or more steps based on the embodiments described above. Some examples of these steps are as follows.
In one or more embodiments, upon the delay timer reaching the second preset time, a normally-closed contact of the ERMS is opened. Opening the normally-closed contact deactivates the instantaneous settings of the relay.
In one or more embodiments, a light indicator of the ERMS is turned ON upon activating the instantaneous settings of the relay and the light indicator is tuned OFF upon deactivating the instantaneous settings of the relay.
In one or more embodiments, a second switch of the ERMS that is normally closed may be opened. Opening the second switch of the ERMS deactivates the instantaneous settings of the relay.
In one or more embodiments, the instantaneous settings of the relay may be active only when the delay timer counts between the first preset time and the second preset time.
In one or more embodiments, the instantaneous settings of the relay may be active only when the second switch of the ERMS is closed, and the second switch is normally closed.
In one or more embodiments, opening the second switch before the delay timer reaching the second preset time deactivates the instantaneous settings of the relay.
Examples of the above steps are described above with reference to
One or more embodiments disclosed herein for operating an ERMS, for example with reference to
An example of the computer system is described with reference to
The computer (602) can serve in a role as a client, network component, a server, a database or other persistency, or any other component (or a combination of roles) of a computer system for performing the subject matter described in the instant disclosure. The illustrated computer (602) is communicably coupled with a network (630). In some implementations, one or more components of the computer (602) may be configured to operate within environments, including cloud-computing-based, local, global, or other environment (or a combination of environments).
At a high level, the computer (602) is an electronic computing device operable to receive, transmit, process, store, or manage data and information associated with the described subject matter. According to some implementations, the computer (602) may also include or be communicably coupled with an application server, e-mail server, web server, caching server, streaming data server, business intelligence (BI) server, or other server (or a combination of servers).
The computer (602) can receive requests over network (630) from a client application (for example, executing on another computer (602)) and responding to the received requests by processing the said requests in an appropriate software application. In addition, requests may also be sent to the computer (602) from internal users (for example, from a command console or by other appropriate access method), external or third-parties, other automated applications, as well as any other appropriate entities, individuals, systems, or computers.
Each of the components of the computer (602) can communicate using a system bus (603). In some implementations, any or all of the components of the computer (602), both hardware or software (or a combination of hardware and software), may interface with each other or the interface (604) (or a combination of both) over the system bus (603) using an application programming interface (API) (612) or a service layer (613) (or a combination of the API (612) and service layer (613)). The API (612) may include specifications for routines, data structures, and object classes. The API (612) may be either computer-language independent or dependent and refer to a complete interface, a single function, or even a set of APIs. The service layer (613) provides software services to the computer (602) or other components (whether or not illustrated) that are communicably coupled to the computer (602). The functionality of the computer (602) may be accessible for all service consumers using this service layer (613). Software services, such as those provided by the service layer (613), provide reusable, defined business functionalities through a defined interface. For example, the interface may be software written in JAVA, C++, Python, or other suitable language providing data in extensible markup language (XML) format or another suitable format. While illustrated as an integrated component of the computer (602), alternative implementations may illustrate the API (612) or the service layer (613) as stand-alone components in relation to other components of the computer (602) or other components (whether or not illustrated) that are communicably coupled to the computer (602). Moreover, any or all parts of the API (612) or the service layer (613) may be implemented as child or sub-modules of another software module, enterprise application, or hardware module without departing from the scope of this disclosure.
The computer (602) includes an interface (604). Although illustrated as a single interface (604) in
The computer (602) includes at least one computer processor (605). Although illustrated as a single computer processor (605) in
The computer (602) also includes a memory (606) that holds data for the computer (602) or other components (or a combination of both) that can be connected to the network (630). For example, memory (606) can be a database storing data consistent with this disclosure. In one example, memory (606) may store programs or algorithms for controlling operation of the ERMS that is described in the above embodiments. More specifically, in this example, the programs or algorithms may control operation of the coil, relay, timer, light indicator, normally-open contacts, or normally-closed contact. In one example, the first switch, the second switch, or the light indicator may be shown on a digital display, and the programs and algorithms may control the components of the ERMS based on an operator's action on the first or second switch. Although illustrated as a single memory (606) in
The application (607) is an algorithmic software engine providing functionality according to particular needs, desires, or particular implementations of the computer (602), particularly with respect to functionality described in this disclosure. For example, the application (607) can serve as one or more components, modules, applications, etc. In one example, the application (607) may include programs or algorithms for controlling operation of the ERMS that is described in the above embodiments. More specifically, in this example, the programs or algorithms may control operation of the coil, relay, timer, light indicator, normally-open contacts, or normally-closed contact. In one example, the first switch, the second switch, or the light indicator may be shown on a digital display, and the programs and algorithms may control the components of the ERMS based on an operator's action on the first or second switch. Further, although illustrated as a single application (607), the application (607) may be implemented as multiple applications (607) on the computer (602). In addition, although illustrated as integral to the computer (602), in alternative implementations, the application (607) can be external to the computer (602). In one example, the method described with reference to
There may be any number of computers (602) associated with, or external to, a computer system containing computer (602), each computer (602) communicating over network (630). Further, the term “client,” “user,” and other appropriate terminology may be used interchangeably as appropriate without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Moreover, this disclosure contemplates that many users may use one computer (602), or that one user may use multiple computers (602). Furthermore, in one or more embodiments, the computer (602) is a non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM).
Although only a few example embodiments have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the example embodiments without materially departing from this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the following claims.
