TITLE:
Auxiliary-Service Smart Monitoring Solutions: A Study in High-Power Substations in Colombia
AUTHORS:
Hermes Eslava, Luis Alejandro Rojas, Marcela Restrepo
KEYWORDS:
Auxiliary Services, Smart Monitoring, Substations, Battery Banks, Direct Current, Failure
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Power and Energy Engineering,
Vol.2 No.9,
September
16,
2014
ABSTRACT: The present study assesses
the possibility of implementing an auxiliary-service smart monitoring solution
at power substations. The solution is intended to improve substation indices in
terms of accident rates and undesired events that result from initial incidents
associated to failure of the Direct Current systems in charge of supporting the
operation of protection elements. In recent years in Colombia, substation fires
have been reported, and auxiliary services have been identified as a potential
initial cause of these unfortunate events. In fact, in Bogotá (Capital city of
Colombia), in the last decade, incidents occurred at four high-power
substations, and the potential failure cause was associated to the operation of
auxiliary services, according to the criteria of experts in the electrical
sector. The present study illustrates how a monitoring system substantially improves
the lifecycle of battery banks in a three-year period (8% lifecycle improvement
together with an increase in reliability of the system by allowing more time
for failure identification). The estimated
financial benefits reach 2 million US dollars and stem from reducing the
frequency of explosions at substations by 11%. The technology in question is
assessed and recommended based on the results of various experiments, where
various monitoring methods are tested, also considering the operation and
maintenance costs that constitute an appropriate lifecycle evaluation.