Power System Integrator for Equipment Failure Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electric power systems lack effective methods to utilize redundant information for self-testing and backup protection, leading to potential equipment failures and compliance issues with regulatory standards.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a supervisory device, referred to as an integrator, that receives and analyzes redundant signals from various sensors and relays to detect equipment failures, provide backup protection, and perform diagnostic assessments, using a merging unit to prepare data from existing hardware for the integrator.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If redundant sensors and relays are deployed in electric power systems, then measurement coverage and information availability improve, but system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple redundant sensors and relays into a single integrator device that consolidates their functions. The integrator receives signals from multiple sources, performs self-tests, and provides backup protection, thereby reducing system complexity while maintaining reliability through functional integration rather than proliferation of separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrator is designed as a multi-functional device that simultaneously performs signal integration, self-testing, failure detection, and backup protection. This universal approach allows a single device to handle multiple tasks that would otherwise require separate systems, reducing overall complexity while improving reliability.
2Measurement precision
If continuous monitoring and self-testing are implemented, then equipment failure detection capability improves, but computational load and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary self-tests by comparing readings from redundant sensors before failures occur. By continuously monitoring and comparing signals in advance, the system detects discrepancies early, enabling proactive failure detection without requiring intensive computational analysis only when failures occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrator implements feedback mechanisms by continuously comparing signals from redundant sensors and relays. When discrepancies are detected, the system generates alerts and notifications, creating a closed-loop feedback system that maintains high detection capability while managing computational load through efficient comparison algorithms.
3Reliability
If redundant information from multiple sources is integrated, then backup protection capability improves, but data processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The integrator merges data from multiple redundant sources into a unified processing stream. By consolidating signals from various sensors and relays into a single device, the system simplifies data processing while maintaining backup protection capability through integrated analysis rather than separate processing of each redundant source.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrator acts as an intermediary device between redundant sensors/relays and the control system. It receives, processes, and standardizes data from multiple sources before forwarding relevant information, thereby reducing the processing burden on downstream systems while maintaining comprehensive backup protection.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure pertains to devices, systems, and methods for monitoring an electric power system. In one embodiment, a system may detect a failure in an electric power system. The system may include a communication interface to receive a first indication related to a condition in the electric power system, and a second indication related to the condition. The system may also include a test subsystem to compare the first indication to the second indication and to determine a discrepancy between the first indication and the second indication. A diagnostic subsystem may identify the failure based on the discrepancy between the first indication and the second indication. An alert subsystem may generate an alert based on the failure.