Keeping the Electrical Grid Healthy with VAR Compensation

The U.S. power grid is a large electrical circuit that, although has some amount of isolation between loads, is interconnected at drop points. This interconnection is very important, as power must be monitored and sustained to prevent failure or outage.

While certainly an issue for the massive U.S. power grid, power supply is also a concern for smaller scale voltage systems.

T-Star has significant domain expertise in stabilizing medium voltage power systems.  When the team needed a well-supported intelligent device for their new generation Static VAR Compensator (SVC), they contacted Viewpoint Systems based on our expertise in measurement and control systems.

An SVC is a set of electrical devices that is used to regulate grid voltage. An SVC is generally worth considering in scenarios where large electric motors are being utilized (e.g. mills, recycling plants, mines).  Problems such as voltage sag, voltage flicker, and current harmonics can cause reduced motor torque, lights to flicker, and equipment damage.

T-Star and Viewpoint Systems worked together to create a dynamic quality power system that can be remotely monitored and diagnosed through real-time data. The power system consists of hardware and software from Viewpoint Systems and National Instruments, including LabVIEW system design software and an NI CompactRIO controller, which is well suited to perform multi-channel precision timing and high speed logging in dirty, industrial environments.

A diagram of the T-Star system and solution benefits can be found here.