Transient Waveform Capture for Power Control Device Failure Diagnosis
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current power distribution systems inadequately determine the cause of abnormal conditions in power control devices, such as failures or component issues, and their effects on the system, due to insufficient monitoring capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that includes a capture signal apparatus and signal receiver apparatus to detect abnormal conditions and capture transient waveforms, providing additional insight into the causes and effects of failures by transmitting a capture signal to a transient capture meter, which records voltage and current waveforms associated with the timestamp of the abnormal condition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If typical monitoring is used within a power control device, then the monitoring capability is simple and the device complexity is low, but the ability to determine the cause of abnormal conditions is inadequate
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously captures and stores transient waveforms in memory before an abnormal condition occurs. When an abnormal condition is detected, the pre-captured waveforms are already available for immediate analysis, eliminating the need for post-failure waveform acquisition and ensuring precise cause determination without adding complex real-time monitoring systems.
Solution Approach 2:
A communication network acts as an intermediary between the power control device and the transient capture meter. The power control device sends a capture signal through this network, which triggers the transient capture meter to retrieve and analyze pre-stored waveforms. This intermediary approach allows precise abnormal condition analysis without requiring direct complex integration between monitoring and capture systems.
2Measurement precision
If continuous waveform capture is implemented, then the ability to capture transient conditions is improved, but the loss of time for data storage and retrieval is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The transient capture meter continuously captures and stores waveforms in memory buffer before an abnormal condition occurs. This preliminary action ensures that when an abnormal condition is detected, the relevant transient waveforms are already captured and stored, eliminating any time loss for post-event waveform acquisition and enabling immediate precise analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts only the specific transient waveforms relevant to the abnormal condition from the continuous waveform data stream. By using a capture signal to trigger selective retrieval of pre-captured waveforms associated with the abnormal condition timestamp, the system avoids the time loss of processing or storing all possible waveform data while maintaining precise capture capability.
3Measurement precision
If multiple monitoring devices are deployed, then the coverage of monitoring is improved, but the device complexity and coordination requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The transient capture meter serves multiple functions: it continuously captures waveforms, stores them in memory, receives capture signals from the power control device, retrieves specific waveforms based on timestamps, and provides data for analysis. This multi-functional approach improves abnormal condition detection accuracy without requiring multiple specialized devices and their complex coordination.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
An apparatus for detecting an abnormal event and capturing associated waveforms includes a detection module within a power control device that detects an abnormal condition. The abnormal condition is indicative of an impending failure of the power control device and/or a condition within the power control device indicative of a parameter being outside of a specified limit. The power control device controls power to one or more power devices in a power distribution system. The apparatus includes a signal transmit module that transmits a capture signal to a transient capture meter. The transient capture meter meters transient conditions of a branch of the power distribution system that includes the power control device. The capture signal instructs the transient capture meter to capture current and/or voltage waveforms relevant to a time when the detection module detected the abnormal condition.