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Test of international level in the laboratory ABB power energy


Test of international level in the laboratory ABB power energy

Ultrafast sampling through the use of data acquisition systems from HBM Genesis HighSpeed.

Laboratory power energy company ABB in Ludvika (Sweden) is currently conducting trials of almost all manufactured by the enterprise equipment for electricity. Here is an international industrial group ABB is experiencing switching equipment, high-voltage circuit breakers and transformers at various stages of development, as well as conducting routine tests of finished products.

When testing products subjected to extreme currents and voltages, collecting data with a very high sampling rate. To do this, use the latest measuring and testing equipment, including measurement system Genesis HighSpeed from HBM combined with the software Perception.

Ludvika is the lead test center equipment ABB for the electric power industry since 1933. Here was assembled the world's largest, at that time, the generator short circuits. Ludvika and today remains the world leader in this highly specialized field. On the territory there are two reliable short-circuit generator, capable of producing total power of 4,000 MVA for direct testing and up to 75,000 MVA for simulation tests.

Destructive testing

"We are working with very strong currents and high voltages. Many of our tests are destructive, which means that the end product is not so much. Therefore, it is impossible to check high-voltage equipment without a few fireworks. However, tests must be carried out so that everything that happens is instantly and accurately recorded. We only need accurate and detailed charts describing the process," says Kjell Crown (Kjell Korhonen), lead engineer, specialist in the field of measuring equipment and control systems Lab power energy by ABB in Ludvika.

The measuring system during the development process

Extreme load and high sampling rate (up to 100 million measurements per second) are definitely a key requirement for the used tools. In 1980-ies the company ABB was a pioneer in the development of digital data acquisition systems for the various tests. One of these long-standing developments and formed the basis for what today is a family of hardware series Genesis HighSpeed from HBM for the registration of transients. ABB continues to work in close cooperation with HBM, contributing to the development of this system, now in its ninth generation.

"For us it is extremely important that the system continues to evolve commercial enterprise working with a large number of users, and that we can get support and updates. We now use Genesis and Perception in all our laboratories and are engaged in a constructive dialogue with HBM on its improvement. Nice to have a single effective set of tools that are constantly updated," adds Kjell Crown.

Flexible system

Laboratory Ludvika uses four measuring racks system Genesis HighSpeed. This system is flexible with the ability to install the required modules directly in the rack. When conducting large-scale tests measuring multiple racks can be combined.

Each measuring rack has place for four-channel receivers. Fiber optic cables connect the channels with digital converters that convert the signal from analog to digital and transmit it in software Perception for validation and processing. Test equipment in the laboratory, Ludvika is operated in two shifts of thirty highly skilled engineers.

Compliance with international standards.

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Almost all energy products are tested ABB in Ludvika at various stages of development and routine testing on the production output. This means that the average is two high-frequency test per day, all year round. Their duration can range from several hours to weeks, with the formation of up to 1000 megabytes of data that are stored by ABB for at least ten years.

All tests are conducted in accordance with international and regional standards. Laboratory Ludvika also undergoes independent quality certification by the Swedish accreditation authority SWEDAC. ABB is a member of the Scandinavian Association for testing of electric power equipment (SATS, the Scandinavian Association for Testing of Electric Power Equipment) and its international Association, the Association for testing short circuits (STL Short-Circuit Testing Liaison), which is another sign of quality. All work shall be performed strictly in accordance with the standards, otherwise the equipment is undergoing routine tests in the laboratory will not be able to be certified.
World experience

Consistency is critical in our work. It is necessary to remember about the thousands of factors that theoretically can go wrong during testing, cables, hardware errors, and the location of the measuring equipment. Often testing products we have only one chance, and the entire process takes a matter of seconds. We cannot afford to lose measurement data. Therefore, the long experience of ABB is its main asset. We pay much attention to the acquisition of necessary skills and training of employees who come to Ludvika from around the world.

Instrumentation can fail

Testing in the lab power ABB energy associated with certain risks. Strong currents and high voltage can bring down the system, and in the worst case can burn out and require replacement of sensitive components such as sensors for measurement of network parameters (current, voltage, pressure, or movement, etc.), and digital signal converters. Four measuring racks in the data collection system Genesis HighSpeed have a long service life due to the unique electrical isolation. Fiber-optic communication lines are used to connect the measuring racks in the control room to digital converters, stands and protecting personnel from high voltage.

High standards

"In order to maintain its leading position and keep up with the latest technology we constantly have to update equipment. We are constantly forced to improve the measurement precision, therefore, our key task is the timely transition to the next generation of measuring systems. We try to do everything we can to grow ‒ to increase volumes and to expand the possibilities of testing new methods, a greater number of objects. We will always measure such quantities as currents and voltages, but in the future will be added new tests. For example, one day we might need to measure the movement in a contactless manner," predicts Kjell Crown.

Data acquisition system Genesis HighSpeed.

Genesis HighSpeed is a system for high speed measurement data collection. The Genesis HighSpeed family can operate with a sampling frequency of up to 100 million MEAs./sec per channel. Thanks to the modular platform system can be configured for a specific task.
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