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Substation Protection


Extend the Life of Your Circuit Breakers

What to ask to ensure proper circuit breaker testing and maintenance BY ROBERT FOSTER, Megger Protecting a utility’s assets is essential. There are many different apparatus in electrical substations that need to be protected. The circuit breaker (CB) is designed to stop the flow of electricity...

Substation Technologies


Gas Dehydration

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) insulates medium- and high-voltage switchgears around the world. In its pure form, this non-toxic, inert gas helps the power transmission & distribution (T&D) industry operate more safely by extinguishing high-temperature arcs. With a much higher...

Lightning Protection


Lightning Strikes

In Canada, lightning flashes occur about 2.34 million times a year; with the highest levels of concentration during the summer months. While most lightning on earth is ground-to-cloud,  recent research has identified that the majority of lightning events to tall structures, such as wind turbines,...

Breakers & Relays


SAME DAY SWITCHING

Same day switching avoids the extended outages and human and equipment costs associated with inoperable and broken switches.The vast majority of air break disconnect and ground switches in electric power networks typically receive no appreciable maintenance. This invariably results in the inability...

Physical Security & Monitoring


BIRDS AND SUBSTATION OUTAGES

Birds wreak havoc at hundreds of substations every year, undermining system reliability and costing millions. Bird incursions can have disastrous results: equipment damage, outages and expensive cleanups due to corrosive droppings.Even worse: the traditional deterrents provide only temporary,...

Substation Testing & Maintenance


Vacuum Interrupter Testing for Circuit Breakers

How to predict field life using vacuum interrupters BY FINLEY LEDBETTER, Group CBS Utilities have widely replaced older air-magnetic and oil interrupters for circuit breakers rated at one kilovolt (kV) or higher with vacuum interrupters (VI) due to higher interrupt capability. Vacuum interrupters...

Electrical Substations

Grounding System Maintenance Guide

Grounding systems are a crucially important component of any power supply system, because they directly impact public and employee safety, supply system reliability, power quality and life expectancy of power equipment. In spite of their crucial role in safe, reliable, and economic operation of power supply systems, grounding systems do not receive the same level of preventative maintenance as other infrastructure assets.

While utilities have generally adopted state-of-the-art risk-based maintenance practices for other important...

Electrical Substations Articles