AWWOA Water Week Conference 2019

Many users do not know that they have Power Quality Issues and they live with the random consequences of these Power Quality issues. Sometimes these problems are considered as minor nuisance issues causing random tripping or stopping of equipment. The equipment can be reset and started again and operated for extended periods before the next nuisance trip.
The Power Quality issues can be more severe such that it can cause overheating in the electrical equipment and even cause equipment to fail prematurely.
This presentation will discuss the source for the Power Quality issues and provide proven solutions to mitigate or prevent the issue from being a concern.
In todays’ pumping stations, the electrical system is primary supplied with solid state equipment which can create several different power quality problems that distorts the voltage and current waveforms in the building. Power Quality Issues increase proportionally with the percentage of solid state equipment (Non-Linear Loads) to the average Power consumption of the Pumping Station. When the total solid state non-linear load is less than 20 percent of the average building load, then the Power Quality Issues are considered very low and do not cause significant operating issues. However when the solid state non-linear loads exceeds 50% of the average building load, then severe Power Quality Issues will occur causing equipment to overheat, nuisance tripping and interference with communication and radio signals.
This scenario exceeds the Power Quality Harmonics Limits set by the Utility as conditions for receiving Power to the Pumping Station. The user must install harmonic mitigation equipment to stay within the guidelines set by the Utility.
Major equipment that can generate significant Power Quality Problems is listed below:
-Variable Frequency Drives
-Solid State Reduced Voltage Starters
-Solid State Lighting Systems, (LED lamps)
-Vacuum Contactors
-Computers and Programmable Logic Controllers
-DC Power supplies
Attendees can receive electronic copy of presentation and other info  on the above topics by dropping off business card at the Higrid Power Booth #55.