Power Quality Disturbances

Gaining power quality intelligence and control helps improve operations, reduce downtime, extends asset life, improves energy efficiency and lowers costs. Knowledge truly is power. Become powerful with the EMES range of power quality measurement services.

What are power quality disturbances and what do they do?

Simply put, they're disturbances in the power supply, meaning it becomes less 'smooth'. It can be caused by a number of factors: poor wiring, overloading of equipment, harmonics, transients and voltage fluctuations are just some of the reasons it occurs. But when it does it can have a detrimental impact on your plant and your production, causing various malfunctions. In fact, specific causes have specific impacts. A voltage dip due to the switch on of large loads can trip sensitive equipment or cause stalling/ tripping of motors. Whereas flickering fluorescents is almost always indicative of voltage fluctuations.

Identifying the problem - and rectifying it.

First you need to find out what the problem is. Then, what solution fits it best. The good news is that the EMES products we supply will work in a vast range of industries - and both on and offshore. So, whatever the cause of the problem, we can fix it. And it's worth doing, because leaving these disturbances in your system means more downtime, shorter equipment life, higher maintenance costs, increased electrical consumption, and even upset people at the power grid annoyed by you introducing problems into the supply ("bad power makes them glower" as one CEO succinctly put it). The good news is that whilst power quality issues are costing you a significant amount of money, fixing them will provide a very quick return on your investment.

Monitoring and reporting

You've identified the source / cause of the power quality disturbance, you've rectified it with an EMES device, now monitor it - and see how just how much your power train (and your bank balance) is benefiting. Products such as the APF come with easy-to-use monitoring and reporting systems, providing you with up-to-date information on the power quality levels of your system (just for starters). It can also advise you of what's happening on the harmonic spectrum, your system configuration and performance, waveforms, alarms and event history, phase order..we'll stop now because it's really starting to sound as if it's just bragging - and no one likes that. Not even in an active power filter...

So, if you've decided it's time to ditch your disturbance and bring harmony to your plant instead of harmonic distortion, look to the EMES range of filters. At EDC we can supply these filters, even building them into bespoke cabinets if required. The full range of EMES services encompasses not just power quality, but also extends into:

• Power Protection (UPS)
• Energy Storage Solutions
• Power Quality Analysis
• Control and Monitoring Systems

All with the sole common goal of providing your operation with continuous, cost-effective, clean power.

 See our blog on enclosing an EMES Active Power Filter for a customer

See the range of power quality products on offer