FEATURE MONITORING & METERING
THE NEXT GENERATION OF POWER SYSTEM MONITORING
Dr. Philip Orr a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Co-Founder of Synaptec Ltd. and an Enterprise Fellow supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub, introduces a new technology helping to unlock the potential of smart grids and renewable systems
S
ociety’s ever-increasing demand for electricity and the move from large-
scale centralised generation towards the mass roll out of renewable generation systems are presenting significant obstacles to the monitoring, protection and control of power systems. Keeping the network stable while the
grid evolves to include massive amounts of renewable generation and energy storage will be an incredible challenge. In doing so successfully, network operators will need greater awareness of the state of the grid at both transmission and distribution levels, enabling them to manage, control and protect the network.
EXISTING LIMITATIONS Network protection must become more robust, discriminative between fault and non-fault conditions, and quicker to respond. Presently-used instrumentation will not allow this when distributed generation and energy storage produce power flows that are two-way and highly changeable. Increased monitoring and measurement will therefore be vital, but until recently this would entail duplicating expensive measurement hardware. Present systems to monitor and protect
20 SPRING 2014 | ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Figure 1: The news system
power systems usually compare the currents entering and exiting a designated zone, so that they can determine if they differ. They require measurement systems (powered and housed indoors) to be located near measurement points. Centralised protection is not possible, and for complex networks or where increased sensor coverage is necessary, it quickly becomes impractical or extremely costly to implement.
FINDING THE SOLUTION After developing a system for monitoring voltage and current on electrical submersible pumps in harsh oil and gas industry environments, Synaptec collaborated with an international manufacturer of power system protection devices – applying the technology in terrestrial environments. It was then found the technology developed in fact has the potential to help much broader network monitoring and protection applications, especially since they have been able to demonstrate that it can be retrofitted to existing sensors and protection relays to reduce costs and vastly improve functionality.
The companies developed optical fibre sensors which can be 'chained' along a single standard telecoms fibre. Because the measurement is analogue right up until the sampling point at the interrogator, there is no digital communication involved, and hence no bandwidth bottleneck. This means that the sensors are networked and interrogated in a highly efficient manner, reducing the dedicated infrastructure requirements. A key application already exists for the technology where one utility provider operates a transmission line that is primarily guided above ground, but dips underground at three locations. Existing protection systems should try to switch back on again when faults are above ground, as these faults are often caused by the likes of lightning strikes. If the fault is below ground, however, it
usually implies that there has been an insulation breakdown, and reclosing this could be extremely dangerous. Currently, the operator cannot identify whether the fault is above or below ground because they cannot install standard sensors along the line. As the sensors can operate over very
long distances and do not require power sources, they can be installed where the cable dips to allow operators to determine immediately if the fault is located above or below ground. The result is less network down-time, fewer customers offline, and major cost savings as a result.
FUTURE APPLICATIONS GO BEYOND GRID MONITORING The potential in this technology was recognised earlier this year by the Royal Academy of Engineering. The Academy’s Enterprise Hub scheme is now providing a year’s worth of training, funding and business mentoring from Atkins Energy CEO Martin Grant and the University of Glasgow’s Professor John Marsh. This will help get the technology to market through Synaptec Ltd. – a spin-out of the University of Strathclyde.
Synaptec Ltd.
www.synapt.ec info@synapt.eu
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