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Let's face it —we're all power hungry. How can we not be, given the fact that so much sophisticated equipment and controls are being used in so many industrial, commercial, institutional and government facilities? They all rely immensely on electrical service, and count on their systems not to let them down. But they often do and the consequences aren't good. They include interruptions in their production processes, equipment damage, downtime, scrap and capacity losses. The most common culprits are voltage sags, power interruptions and voltage flicker.
Voltage sags occur most often and simply stated are a short-term reduction in voltage. They're often caused by fuse or breaker operation, motor starting, or capacitor switching. What they mean to productivity are interruptions to sensitive equipment such as adjustable-speed drives, relays and robots.
Power interruptions are zero-voltage events often brought on by weather, equipment malfunction, recloser operations, or transmission outages. Interruptions can occur on one or more phases and usually last less than 60 seconds.
Voltage flicker, on the other hand, is rapidly occurring voltage sags caused by sudden or big increases in load current. Rapidly varying loads that need a lot of reactive power such as welders, sawmills, wood chippers, metal shredders, rock-crushers, and even amusement rides are most vulnerable. Voltage flicker can result in a visible flicker in lights and the shutdown or malfunction of other processes, as well.
According to Kim White, Marketing Manager for Staco Energy Products Co., blackouts are a small percentage of electrical problems. "It's the small fluctuations that destroy machinery the fastest," she points out. Those small glitches, she says, can cause machinery to lockup, corrupt data, and dramatically shorten the life of any equipment subjected to it. Couple increased repair and replacement costs with the possibility of lost or corrupt data, she contends, and you're looking at a problem that can cost U.S. companies billions every year.
White concedes that it can be tough to truly understand the costs, because power problems have been with us since the times of Edison, and are simply considered the cost of doing business. Indeed, the more computerized equipment used, the more susceptible your company may be to power quality problems, she concludes.
Daylight Savings
A significant savings can be seen by installing corrective equipment, White believes.
The correction of power quality problems, she says, can range from simple fixes like redistributing equipment or rewiring and upgrading the electrical system within a facility, to installing larger power conditioners, UPS systems, power factor systems, or harmonic filters. The best way for most companies to determine the extent of their power problems, however, is to have a power quality analysis performed on their facility by a reputable analyst.
