"Microcuts" and voltage variations
Voltage dips and interruptions are the most common power quality phenomena.
They have a considerable impact on the competitiveness of companies, and can cause very significant damage to equipment by causing transient power surges.
Contrary to what most operators think, 80% of these phenomena are of internal origin.
Brownouts, common events
The word “micro outage” is often used to refer to several events of very different voltage quality but which cause similar situations. It includes voltage dips and interruptions, both short and long.
These are common events that are caused by overhead transmission lines and distribution systems. The main causes of outages include: direct lightning strikes affecting part of the overhead lines, construction accidents, transportation accidents, animals (especially birds), or a failure on another part of the system causing what are called “sympathetic” dips.
But 80% of these phenomena are generally of internal origin: They can be caused by fault conditions in the installation (short-circuit) or the starting of large inductive loads, such as motors, creating large voltage drops. be caused by fault conditions in the installation (short-circuit) or the starting of important inductive loads, such as motors, creating important voltage drops.
High economic costs…
Voltage dips and interruptions, even very brief ones, can affect the operation of sensitive electronic equipment or cause damage to the installation, such as:
Our solutions
The choice of the appropriate solution always depends on the nature of the phenomenon causing the interruption.
Most installers think systematically about UPS. These are often a good solution, but they are not always the best or the cheapest. It is often possible to solve interruption or micro outage problems with much simpler solutions.
The detailed analysis of the phenomenon, its occurrence, its frequency, its depth, its duration, etc. allows to determine the most appropriate solution for each case. In addition, it is very important to take into account the installation environment of the solution, in the choice and sizing of the latter (humidity, temperature, altitude, atmospheric pollution, nature of the loads to be protected, voltage variation range, etc.).
Among the solutions we use, we can mention:
- on-line double conversion inverters
- industrial off-line inverters
- dynamic voltage regulators (DVR)
- voltage stabilizers
- voltage regulators
- static compensation batteries
- electronic VAR generators
- Etc.
Our expertise, at your service
90% of operators think that micro outages come from the external network, whereas experience has shown that the opposite is true in 80% of cases.
That’s why, from the start, our experts start by determining whether the problem originates from the site or from the public network. Thanks to our global network analysis approach, phenomena are identified, quantified and defined over time. This allows us to offer the most cost-effective solution for our customers.
The realization of a network analysis & power quality expertise service (Code SE-PQ002) is an essential prerequisite to the choice of the appropriate solution for desensitizing the installation against micro outages. An estimate is then given to you, which if accepted, gives rise to the turnkey realization of the solution, with a total commitment on our part on the result.
Our assets:
- A scientific and global approach including the stages of observation, measurement, diagnosis, choice of solution and verification of the result,
- Precise sizing of the solution: no need for a tank to swat a fly
- Proven expertise unmatched in the market
- Very important and varied means of diagnosis and measurement
- Some of the most prestigious partners on the market
- A total commitment on the result: satisfied or refunded