Energy and Power
Best practice for using surge protective devices (SPDs) and RCD together
Where the power distribution system incorporates RCDs transient activity could cause RCDs to operate and hence loss of supply. Surge protective devices (SPDs) should wherever possible be installed upstream of RCD to prevent unwanted tripping caused by transient overvoltages. Where… Read more
Oct 07, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
Energy and Power
4 steps to diagnose a potential harmonics related problem
If a plant engineer suspects that he might have a harmonics related problem, the following steps can easily be performed as an initial investigation into potential problems: Look for symptoms of harmonics as listed in Table 1 below. If one… Read more
Oct 05, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
Energy and Power
Problems with audible substation noise and what you can do about it
Audible substation noise, particularly continuously radiated discrete tones (e.g., from power transformers), is the type of noise that the community may find unacceptable. Community guidelines to ensure that acceptable substation noise levels are maintained can take the form of governmental… Read more
Oct 03, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
Energy and Power
Advice how to calculate the power loss inside the low voltage switchboard
In order to give the necessary indications on the methods intended to calculate power loss and improve the current carrying capacity of the circuit breakers inside LV switchboard, first of all it is necessary to analyze an assembly from a… Read more
Sep 30, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
Electrical Lectures
6 transformer operating limitations that make it far from ideal
There are few operating limitations that make transformer far from ideal. Generally, some of transformer operating limitations can be minimized, but not in total, never in total. Let’s talk about these limitations. Transformer losses (Heat) Copper (or winding) losses Iron… Read more
Sep 28, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
Energy and Power
8 steps to follow in power substation design and engineering
Building a new substation or retrofitting the old one is a complex process full of design and engineering tasks to be worked on. The main steps in substation design and engineering are as follows: Selection of a substation switching system:… Read more
Sep 21, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
Electrical Lectures
What is grounding and why do we ground the system and equipment?
The term grounding is commonly used in the electrical industry to mean both “equipment grounding” and “system grounding”. Equipment grounding means the connection of earth ground to non-current carrying conductive materials such as conduit, cable trays, junction boxes, enclosures, and motor… Read more
Sep 14, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
Energy and Power
When does exciting current inrush occur in power transformer?
When a transformer is initially energized, there is a phenomenon known as exciting current inrush. Although inrush currents are not generally as damaging as fault currents, the duration of exciting current inrush is on the order of seconds (as compared… Read more
Sep 07, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
Electrical Lectures
Answer 20 questions correctly and prove you are good electrician
It’s not easy to be a good electrician, that’s for sure. Things you studied hard (or still studying) are gradually being forgotten, especially electrical formulas. Well, these 20 questions tend to wake up your memory and test your electrical knowledge… Read more
Sep 02, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
Energy and Power
Direct and indirect measurements using CTs and VTs
In order to measure electrical quantities, the measuring instruments must be connected to the lines safely, with maximum simplicity and convenience. Generally, the fundamental parameters to be detected are voltage and current, which respectively require a parallel connection and a… Read more
Aug 31, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
Energy and Power
Breaking of a short circuit current in a direct current system
Direct current presents different problems than alternating current with aregard to the phenomena associated to the breaking of a short circuit current and interruption of other types of high value current since the arc extinction results to be particularly difficult…. Read more
Aug 29, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
Electric Motor
What details a motor nameplate shows and how to use them
We have all seen the motor nameplate attached on the motor side (or on top). All motors have a permanent nameplate which lists all important data, further data is usually available in the motor catalogue. It is important to recognize… Read more
Aug 26, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
Energy and Power
Calculate reactive power of the capacitor bank and improve power factor
For the dimensioning of the capacitor bank to be installed in order to improve the power factor of a plant, it is necessary to calculate correctly the power factor according to the consumption or to the load cycle of the… Read more
Aug 24, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
Electric Motor
Motor wiring guidelines (Cable shielding, grounding and splicing techniques)
This technical article describes shielding, grounding, and splicing techniques for use with motor wiring. This article covers the following topics: Understanding noise in motor power wiring Shielding motor power cables Grounding motor power cable shields Applying ferrite sleeves Splicing motor… Read more
Aug 19, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
Electrical Lectures
Basic measuring of resistance, voltage and current using digital multimeter
Digital multimeter has generally replaced the analog-type multimeter as the test device of choice for maintainers because they are easier to read, are often more compact and have greater accuracy. Digital multimeter performs all standard analog-meter measurement functions of AC and DC…. Read more
Aug 15, 2016 | By Edvard Csanyi
