5 Benefits Of Improve Commercial & Industrial Power Quality

 
While power problems certainly aren’t new, they’ve largely been either misunderstood, mismanaged or ignored in the past.

The importance of power quality has become more prevalent due to the digitisation and increasing use of electronic devices in facilities, such as computers and other digital machines. In many industrial facilities, poor power quality has become a serious problem and is a major under-utilised source of cost reduction and economic advantage.

Poor power quality can impact multiple aspects of your business with a long list of destructive and

costly effects. You could be losing money and productivity without even being aware of it. In contrast, the benefits that come from power quality correction can be multifold and long-lasting, improving your operations and your bottom line. The need for better power quality is also increasingly important for companies interested in energy conservation and continuous control.

Here are five of the most significant benefits of improving power quality at your commercial premises:

1. Minimise the risk of damage

Poor power quality can cause damage to sensitive equipment. Without clean, uniform power, your facility is more prone to premature equipment failures or outages.

2. Reduce energy costs

Poor power quality can lower productivity and drive up energy costs. Power quality improvement solutions can reduce heat, vibration, and noise in AC motors. The result is a reduction in energy expenses, improved machine performance, reliability, and longer life expectancy.

3. Improve equipment lifespan

The life span of equipment is also impacted by poor power quality, meaning that more costs are associated with maintenance and the replacement of depreciating assets.

4. Ensure the safety of electrical installation

Poor power quality can impair the safety of electrical installations. If power is not properly provided, machines, run the risk of overheating. When machines overheat, they can break down or even catch fire.

5. Increase operational efficiency

When you have an interruption of power, your service, and your machines, stops, even if only briefly. When you suffer these interruptions, your output, in turn, suffers as well.

Find areas of improvement with a power quality audit

There are a number of causes of poor power quality in commercial environments. But you don’t need to let your efficiency and productivity suffer. A power quality audit can help you to identify poor power factors and sources of electrical pollution.

An in-depth power quality audit by our power protection experts at Quality Energy involves comprehensively assessing your facilities, including wiring, loading, line balance, polarity grounding and harmonic distortion.

By providing you with technical and economic analysis data options, you can make an informed decision to solve your power quality problems. Ultimately, investing in the quality of your power is an investment in the quality of your business. To learn more about our power quality audit service, contact us today.

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Check out our case studies to see how a Quality Energy Power Quality Audit will benefit your business.

 

With a Fluke 1770 Series Three-phase Power Quality Analyzer in your tool bag, you’ll never miss a critical power quality event. Capture fast transients up to 8 kV, harmonics up to 30 kHz, dips, and swells, as well as the voltage, current, and power measurements that enable you to characterize your electrical system.

But there are a lot of uses and features packed into this tool, how do you get started finding the power quality issues you need to mitigate? Learn how to make the measurements needed to find the most common power quality issues using a power quality analyzer.

Issue 1. Finding harmonics issues

Measure with: harmonic evaluation and analysis of the electrical system or surveys

When downloading data from the Fluke 1770 Series Power Quality Analyzers, Energy Analyze Plus software can do the work to compare measured voltage and current harmonic statistical data to different standards. Follow the steps on the screen to determine if any of your measurements exceed compliance limits.

Energy Analyze Plus is a powerful predictive maintenance feature that enables current harmonics to be observed before distortion appears in the voltage. In turn, this allows you to prevent unexpected failures or situations where you’re out of compliance and allows you to increase your system uptime.

Issue 2. Wasted energy

Measure with: energy surveys evaluating energy consumption

As you’re working with your 1770 Series Analyzer, you can easily evaluate energy consumption. Once you’ve downloaded the data, the Energy Analyze Plus software can help analyze, track, and report the energy data you’ve captured. Following the on-screen prompts, you can compare your results to historical values, benchmark against industry norms, compare measured data to local conditions, and create a more complete picture of what’s occurring across your facility.

Using the Live View, you can even begin viewing this information while the data is still being collected.

Issue 3. Overloaded panels

Measure with: load studies

Tracking your assets over a period of time can help you identify if the current panel is overloaded or if a load can be added without costly upgrades. The 1770 series is designed with Logger Mode to help ensure you don’t need extensive training to find potential problems.

The system will guide you through the setup process, showing what to plug in where, and which buttons to push as you move along. The analyzer is also set up with built-in event triggers, based on power quality standards. Though these settings are fully customizable, you don’t actually need to go in and modify unless you want to make changes from a standard.

Load study reports

Once your load study is complete, you analyze the information and build out a report. Go through and analyze the details of energy consumption you’ve measured and logged with an automated report. Seamlessly view your power quality state-of-health without learning any additional software. The one-touch automated reporting creates standardized reports that fit the global measurement standards and guidelines.

Issue 4. Capture electrical disturbances

Measure with: PQ Meter Mode and advanced transient capture technology

The Fluke 1775 and Fluke 1777 Power Quality Analyzers incorporate advanced transient capture technology to help you clearly identify high-speed voltage transients so you can install the necessary mitigation to prevent damage to your equipment.

 17751777SAMPLING CAPACITY1 MHz20 MHz Capture fast transientsCapture the fastest transients, in high detail

Setting up your analyzer to capture these transients is designed to be quick and easy. Once you enter PQ Meter Mode, the instrument will walk through the actions you need to take. The screen will even show any potential issues in your setup, so the data collected is as accurate as possible.

1777 Power Quality Analyzer verification screen. The Start button remains Orange until the problem is solved.

Beyond this, the 1770 series has the ability to not only identify wiring problems, but with a single button press, can auto correct or fix the wiring problems. This removes the need to manually adjust the clamp and cable position. When an issue is detected, the Start button will turn Orange. In order to fix it, simply tap Auto Correct at the bottom of the screen. When the Start button turns green, the recording can start without worrying there could be a wiring problem or voltage setting problem.

Issue 5. Uncover additional issues

Measure with: power quality surveys

Whether you know the specific issues you’re looking for or not, the 1770 Series Power Quality Analyzers offer a 2-in-1 device that combine the troubleshooting functionality of a power quality meter with the robust analysis and logging capabilities of a standalone power quality analyzer—in a single, easy-to-use, handheld device.

While you’re recording data for a load study, you’re able to view it at the same time. PQ Health is a window into the quality of power you’re receiving at that moment. This view compares the data you’ve collected against a standard to show an easy-to-read color-coded bar graph.

Once you’ve completed your load study or system survey, the analyzer can create an easy-to-use report. This will make it fast and simple to capture and identify electrical problems and see them all clearly laid out in a summary report. Catch load, power factor, and harmonic issues within the data collected by the 1770 Series.

About the 1770 Series

Fluke 1770 Series Three-Phase Power Quality Analyzers are powerful tools that eliminate the complexities of power quality logging, troubleshooting, and analysis. These analyzers are engineered to be the faster, easier way to perform power quality studies, offering automatic measurements, a straightforward user interface and setup, best-in-class specifications, and a simplified reporting platform. The instrument can also be powered directly from the measurement circuit, eliminating the need to find a power outlet or use a lengthy extension cord.

 Applications177317751777Energy surveys and load testing✓✓✓Harmonic surveys✓✓✓Nuisance circuit breaker tripping ✓✓Electric utility power quality surveys ✓✓Discovery of equipment failures caused by 8kV microsecond transients ✓✓Discovery of equipment failures caused by 8kV nanosecond transients  ✓