All manufacturers and industries work hard on how to increase productivity, reduce costs and optimise energy use.
Of the many different factors that we try to improve, energy usage is the one thing that we can easily control.
To run our facility economically we need clean electricity which is an electrical power that is free from voltage spikes and drops. Clean power saves us money, improves the machines or the facilities efficiency and also saves us from the energy loss.
We can call it surge, a sag, a spike, a transient, a fluctuation, an interruption or noise and even "dirty power". They are all some type of abnormality in the electricity that runs your facility. The regular surges, spikes and power failures not just increase the operation cost but they can easily damage the equipment and lead to unplanned downtime.
Dirty power can originate outside of the facility. Sources like utility switching, capacitor switching, lightning and faults on the utility's distribution system can all affect the quality of your power before they even reach your facility.
The other source of the dirty power is inside the facility, here are some examples which can cause poor power quality within the facility:
•Installation—improper routing, rounding or undersized distribution.
•Operation—equipment operated outside of the optimal parameters.
•Mitigation—inappropriate protection or lack of power factor correction.
•Maintenance—degrading of cable insulation.
Therefore the continuous inspection of power quality can ensure the smooth, highly efficient and cost-effective operations.
The power quality analyser is capable of monitoring voltage, current and providing a detailed record when measurements fall outside pre-set limits.
Industrial environments largely benefit from these analysers which are used to monitor the following: phase to ground voltages, neutral to ground voltages, phase to phase voltages in three phase systems, a waveform of current and voltage at specific circumstances, phase to neutral voltages, phase currents, frequency and power factor.
After all, it is still a question how we can quantify the energy loss in a system?
This is the point where PASS can help. We offer a huge range of power quality analysers from different manufacturers.
The following power quality and energy tools of Fluke and Chauvin Arnoux are perfectly suited to both industrial and commercial applications, allowing you to measure power quality and quantify the associated costs:
Fluke 435 Series II Power Quality & Energy Analyser,
Fluke 1732 Three-Phase Electrical Energy Logger
Chauvin Arnoux CA8331 Qualistar + Power Quality Analyser
Chauvin Arnoux CA8336 Qualistar + Power Analyser
Please, if you would like to know more about these power quality analysers or you need any assistance, do not hesitate to call our experts on 01642 931 329 or send an email to info@tester.co.uk.
