The reliability of the power supply is one of the factors ensuring the desired level of quality of electricity in the power supply systems of consumers. The design of the power supply system, especially for industrial or livestock customers, is a compromise between the reliability of the power supply and the quality of the energy supplied, and the investment and operating costs. There is always a choice between striving for the reliability of a near-perfect system and a solution with significantly lower costs, but the ATS system is always an essential element of the system.

 

Automatic Transfer Switching Equipment and its Importance to Guaranteed Power Systems

Układy załączania rezerwyThe reliability of the power supply is one of the factors ensuring the desired level of quality of electricity in the power supply systems of consumers. The design of the power supply system, especially for industrial or livestock customers, is a compromise between the reliability of the power supply and the quality of the energy supplied, and the investment and operating costs. There is always a choice between striving for the reliability of a near-perfect system and a solution with significantly lower costs, but the ATS system is always an essential element of the system.

 

Most electrical equipment is designed for correct operation only under normal supply conditions: the supply voltage and its frequency should not exceed the permissible deviations from the rated values, the symmetry of the phases should be maintained, and the environmental operating conditions should not deviate from those specified by the manufacturer. Failure to meet these parameters may result in increased losses, reduced performance of the device, or even its damage. It is worth noting here that cases of significant deviations from normal conditions may cause interruptions in the operation of the receiving devices. Whole article could be written about the costs and other consequences associated with power outages in hospitals, industrial plants, farms specializing in animal breeding or server rooms.

The ATS system as the first element of the system without UPS or flywheel current generator (so-called dynamic UPS) determines the length of the power outage and is, as it were, the most important element of the guaranteed power system. The task of Automatic Transfer Switching Equipment is to switch the power supply from the main line to the backup line when there is a power outage from the network and vice versa when the power supply from the network is restored and its parameters will enable safe operation of the powered devices.

ATS systems must comply with a number of standards and directives, including:

  • 7323/EEC – Council Directive of 19 February 1973 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits (Low Voltage Directive)
  • 89/336/EEC – Council Directive of 3 May 1989 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility
  • PN‑EN 60947‑6‑1 Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear. Multi-purpose connectors. Automatic switching devices

and are able to ensure the safety of use by:

  • electrical interlock between contactors or circuit breakers
  • software interlock in the control device
  • mechanical interlock
  • control of the states of the actuators, i.e. testing the position of the contactors (ON/OFF) and in the case of activation of state switches
  • possibility of cooperation of ATS systems with fire switches
  • in the event of fluctuations in primary and backup supply voltages, the possibility of setting time delays between switching on and returning the basic voltage

Additional modules used by Prototypownia are a full protection in the event of a failure (e.g. as a result of a lightning strike) of the control automation and electronic elements enabling manual start-up of the unit. In this case, the redundancy of the elements enabling the switching of the power supply track to the backup track is based on 3 modules:

  • automatic starting of the generator set and switching of the power supply line in the event of a power failure
  • manual start-up of the generator set and switching of the power supply line with the use of electronic elements in the event of, among others, control automation failure
  • manual start-up of the generator set and switching of the power supply line, excluding electronic components that may have failed

It is worth noting here that the high quality of automation or electronics components used by Prototypownia has a significant impact on the reliability of the guaranteed power supply system, but for full energy security of the facility, e.g. in the case of a lightning strike, it is necessary to use all the above modules. The use of additional manual protections is the most financially advantageous way to increase the reliability of the guaranteed power supply system.

The ATS systems, in addition to a number of protections, implement - depending on the needs of the customer and the power of the power generator he owns, the division of energy receivers depending on their categories (in the power industry, categories from I to IV are distinguished depending on the criticality of operation of individual devices. Category I - admissible longer breaks, e.g. residential houses; Category II - admissible breaks of tens of seconds, e.g. tall residential buildings, animal farms; Category III - admissible breaks of up to several seconds: hospitals, industrial plants, hotels, hypermarkets, airports; Category IV - due to the costs and other consequences related to the power outage, uninterruptible power supply required: operating rooms, server rooms). In the event that a generator set with a power that can only meet the needs of critical consumers is available on the facility. The ATS also plays the role of an electrical switchgear taking into account the distribution of power from the emergency line.

In Prototypownia, we design and build ATS systems equipped not only with additional modules for switching on the emergency lines (generator set) manually with the use of electronics and manually with its bypass, but also, among others:

  • GSM module informing the Customer by the means of mobile phone about: power outage from the mains, battery discharge of the power generator, low fuel level, etc. (alarm notifications are configured depending on the Customer's needs)
  • a module enabling easy and quick connection of the backup generator set in the event that the basic power generator does not work. This solution is especially important when there is no backup power generator on the facility, and it is important to quickly and efficiently find an emergency power source. The connection of a spare (and often rented) generator is carried out by means of a single plug connection.

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