- Infinite Power Sdn Bhd
Switchgear Temperature Monitoring - Preventing Switchgear Failure
Client: Gas Producing Plant Location: Malaysia
Problem:
During a routine periodic inspection of their 11kV switchgears, the maintenance team of this gas producing facility found discoloration on the switchgear's circuit breaker sprouts. Upon investigation, the maintenance engineers concluded that the most likely cause of the discoloration is due the circuit breakers operating under a temperature rise condition. If left unresolved, this temperature rise could lead to failure of the circuit breakers, which will then lead to a total switchgear failure and a sudden power outage at their production facility, which will halt their production and delivery schedule, leading to financial losses.
Solution:
To solve this problem, the customer engaged Infinite Power to asses the situation and to suggest a switchgear temperature monitoring solution which would allow them to monitor the temperatures of the circuit breakers and to alert them via an alarm warning of any temperature rise on the circuit breakers. In other words, the client would like to harness the power of data analytics to help them reduce the risk of unplanned power outages in their facility.
Upon conducting a detailed on-site survey of their switchgear assets, we recommended that the client install Axzon's Cube-TS RFID temperature sensors which is specifically designed to monitor temperature on circuit breaker sprouts.
In addition, the customer also requested for the temperature readings from the sensor to be relayed to an external Digital Display Meter where their maintenance team can keep a twice daily log of the temperature readings on each of the six sensors attached to the circuit breaker sprouts.
As a precaution, the Display Panel meter was set up to send out an audible alarm when the temperatures on any of the sensors breach a pre-determined temperature threshold, and if the difference between the highest and lowest temperature between any of the sensors exceeded 10°C.
Benefits:
With the installation of Axzon's switchgear temperature monitoring solutions, the maintenance teams of this facility now has full 24/7 monitoring visibility of their switchgear circuit breaker temperatures, and will be well prepared to respond in advance if the situation deteriorates or if problems unknowingly develop in between inspection periods. This gives them a good degree of predictive and preventive maintenance capabilities without having to expose their personnel to dangerous live equipment, and to avoid costly shutdowns and financial losses to due to sudden catastrophic switchgear failure.
Contact us today for a free demonstration to see how Axzon’s Critical Asset Monitoring solutions can benefit your operations.