Feature Circuit Protection How to make monitoring easy
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is causing a current shift in thinking. Dave Garrett, Electrium’s marketing manager for Industrial Circuit Protection, looks at ways to monitor and manage power usage using distribution boards developed specially for the task
generation of 3-phase distribution boards represents a change that is both simple and yet far reaching to the way we use our finite reserves of power. These products help meet the
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demanding needs of many industry sec- tors, in particular education, health, manufacturing - in fact the ever chang- ing requirements of electrical installa- tions in just about every commercial building that exists today. They also meet the needs of both producers and consumers of electric power, as these products can now provide monitoring and control information benefiting not only utilities, but also commercial and industrial situations. Part L2 of the Building Regulations for
hen considering today’s press- ing need for better energy effi- ciency, the integration of panel meters into the latest
England and Wales addresses energy effi- ciency requirements in non-domestic buildings (3-phase applications). A small part of this updated requirement focuses on the need to be able to understand energy demands in buildings and the associated need to meter energy usage - the aim being to allow building man- agers, landlords and tenants to under- stand where energy is used or wasted and to create opportunities to reduce energy consumption. It is expected that these measures will lead to a decrease in power demand of between five to ten percent each year. This makes a useful contribution to the total carbon reduction target for the UK of 30% by 2015. Traditionally,
final distribution
boards supply both lighting and small power loads. The Wylex range with integral smart metering enables speci- fiers and installers to meet the energy metering requirements of Part L2 with- out having to install separate distribu- tion boards and feeders for each type of load. The sub-metering requirements apply to all new and refurbished non- domestic buildings greater than 500m2 and call for energy sub-metering so that at least 90% of the estimated annual energy consumption can be assigned to specific end use categories such as light- ing, heating, pumps and fans.
A demonstration To demonstrate, the following scenarios help explain the benefits available from using panel boards capable of power monitoring
Extending service life S
Right: Wylex is part of Electrium, a UK supplier of domestic circuit protection and electrical wiring accessories
Left: Wylex’s aim is to provide circuit protection systems that can help building managers, landlords and tenants to understand energy usage and consequently create opportunities to reduce overall energy consumption
demand management can be controlled, so the system can minimise electrical demand penalties that can sometimes represent up to 30% of a typical indus- trial utility bill. Power control, where electricity is the process output, can also be managed. Often, there is also on-site generation,
emergency load shedding, or systems where a high quality and stable electric power source is critical to the process and needs to be accurately controlled. Building operators need to have a clear understanding of exactly where all the energy is being consumed by utilising sub-metering to monitor at least 90% of the energy usage assigned to various end use categories e.g. heating, lighting, power and various others. This is explained in detail by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers’ guide to energy sub-metering in non-domestic buildings.
Summary Notwithstanding
the Building applications. Firstly,
oftstart UK has introduced its new range of compact Hyundai HAF and HVF vacuum circuit breakers. Features of the new offerings include extended
service lifespans and a low vibration design which is extremely quiet. With a minimum number of moving parts, the operating mechanism of the HAF
and HVF has reduced maintenance requirements, thus providing a life expectancy of 30,000 operations. Because of the small amount of contact erosion, contact life
is increased to 20,000 operations for the rated nominal current. The enclosed HVF circuit breakers are rated for voltages from 4.76kV up to
40.5kV, with withstand voltages up to 190kV and rated currents up to 4,000A. The open frame HAF circuit breakers are rated for voltages from 4.76kV up to 24kV, with withstand voltages to 125kV and rated currents up to 3150A. Softstart UK
www.softstartuk.com T: 01493 660 510
Enter 221 34
Regulations, power quality is an important parameter to monitor too. Providing the facility to observe and record power quality events, or condi- tions that could cause a production shutdown, is increasingly important as rising numbers of inductive loads influence the supply. Also, load profil- ing lets the user prepare for utility deregulation and make decisions on future demand side management con- trol systems. Even activity-based cost accounting becomes feasible, allowing a customer to allocate energy costs based on actual usage rather than other measurements such as basic square footage allocation. Wylex’s aim with metered panel
boards is to provide circuit protection systems that can help building man- agers, landlords and tenants to under- stand their energy usage and consequently create opportunities to reduce overall energy consumption.
Wylex
www.electrium.co.uk/wylex T: 01543 455 000
Enter 228 MAY 2011 Electrical Engineering
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