Trip circuit current display

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12181524-B2
Application number	US-202217811975-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 12, 2022
Priority date	Jul 12, 2022
Publication date	Dec 31, 2024
Grant date	Dec 31, 2024

Abstract

Circuit breakers may perform a variety of operations, including isolating a faulty part of the power system that may result in a cascading outage. However, circuit breaker operations may cause wear and tear of the tripping assembly components, which eventually cause the circuit breaker to wear out. Additionally, long periods of non-operations may cause the mechanical parts inside a circuit breaker to move sluggishly or, in some instances, fail to move at all. In an embodiment, a system includes a circuit breaker that trips to control power flow and an intelligent electronic device (IED) including an electronic display. The IED receives measurement data associated with a trip event for the circuit breaker, generates a current profile based on the measurement data, and presents the current profile via the electronic display.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a circuit breaker configured to trip to control power flow;
an intelligent electronic device (IED) comprising an electronic display, the IED configured to:
receive measurement data associated with a plurality of trip events for the circuit breaker;
generate a plurality of current profiles based on the measurement data, wherein each current profile comprises respective current measurements associated with the respective trip event and respective timing measurements associated with the respective trip event;
determining elapsed times associated with the plurality of trip events;
generate a threshold current profile based on the plurality of current profiles, wherein the threshold current profile is bounded by a threshold minimum current line corresponding to a set of minimum values of the measurement data over the elapsed times associated with the plurality of trip events and a threshold maximum current line corresponding to a set of maximum values of the measurement data over the elapsed times associated with the plurality of trip events; and
present the threshold current profile, a most recent current profile of the plurality of current profiles, and an elapsed time of the elapsed times associated with the plurality of trip events via the electronic display to enable an operator to monitor an operational health of the circuit breaker, wherein the most recent current profile is associated with a most recent trip event of the plurality of trip events.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the circuit breaker comprises a trip coil and wherein the measurement data comprises current measurements associated with a current through the trip coil, voltage measurements associated with a voltage across the trip coil, or a combination thereof.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the IED is configured to generate a set of operational characteristics based on the most recent current profile.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the IED is configured to present the set of operational characteristics via the electronic display.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein each operational characteristic of the set of operational characteristics corresponds to an operation of the circuit breaker.

6. The system of claim 3 , wherein the IED is configured to identify a set of data points based on the measurement data and the set of operational characteristics, wherein each data point of the set of data points is associated with a respective operational characteristic of the set of operational characteristics.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein each data point comprises a current measurement, a voltage measurement, a timing measurement, or any combination thereof.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the IED Is configured to control operation of the circuit breaker.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the IED is configured to:
determine an elapsed time associated with the most recent trip event; and
present the elapsed time via the electronic display.

10. A method, comprising: receiving measurement data associated with a plurality of trip events for a circuit breaker;
generating a plurality of current profiles based on the measurement data, each current profile of the plurality of current profiles associated with a respective trip event of the plurality of trip events,
wherein each current profile comprises respective current measurements associated with the respective trip event and respective timing measurements associated with the respective trip event; determining elapsed times associated with the plurality of trip events;
generating a threshold current profile based on the plurality of current profiles, wherein the threshold current profile is bounded by a threshold minimum current line corresponding to a set of minimum values of the measurement data over the elapsed times associated with the plurality of trip events and a threshold maximum current line corresponding to a set of maximum values of the measurement data over the elapsed times associated with the plurality of trip events; and presenting, via an electronic display, the threshold current profile,
a most recent current profile of the plurality of current profiles, and an elapsed time of the elapsed times associated with the plurality of trip events to enable an operator to monitor an operational health of the circuit breaker, wherein the most recent current profile is associated with a most recent trip event of the plurality of trip events.

11. The method of claim 10 , comprising:
receiving a plurality of elapsed times associated with the plurality of trip events; and
presenting, via the electronic display, the plurality of elapsed times.

12. The method of claim 10 , comprising:
determining a set of current properties based on the measurement data; and presenting, via the electronic display, the set of current properties.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the set of current properties comprise a maximum current value, a local peak current value, or any combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 10 , comprising:
receiving an input indicative of a selection of a current profile of the plurality of current profiles; and
generating a set of operational characteristics associated with the current profile based on the selection.

15. One or more non-transitory, computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, are configured to cause the processing circuitry to:
receive measurement data associated with a plurality of trip events for a circuit breaker;
generate a plurality of current profiles based on the measurement data, wherein each current profile comprises respective current measurements associated with the respective trip event and respective timing measurements associated with the respective trip event;
determining elapsed times associated with the plurality of trip events;
generate a threshold current profile based on the plurality of current profiles, wherein the threshold current profile is bounded by a threshold minimum current line corresponding to a set of minimum values of the measurement data over elapsed times associated with the plurality of trip events and a threshold maximum current line corresponding to a set of maximum values of the measurement data over the elapsed times associated with the plurality of trip events; and
present, via an electronic display, a most recent current profile of the plurality of current profiles, the threshold current profile, and an elapsed time of the elapsed times associated with the plurality of trip events to enable an operator to monitor an operational health of the circuit breaker, wherein the most recent current profile is associated with a most recent trip event of the plurality of trip events.

16. The one or more non-transitory, computer readable media of claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, are configured to cause the processing circuitry to:
receive an input indicative of a selection of a selected current profile; and
present a set of operational characteristics associated with the selected current profile based on the selection.

17. The one or more non-transitory, computer readable media of claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, are configured to cause the processing circuitry to:
receive historical measurement data associated with a plurality of historical trip events for the circuit breaker; and
generate a plurality of historical current profiles based on the historical measurement data.

Assignees

• Schweitzer Engineering Lab Inc

Inventors

• Schweitzer Iii Edmund O
• Wade Austin Edward
• Nafsinger Brandon Michael
• Foutch Bryan Jennings

Classifications

• H01H71/04

  Means for indicating condition of the switching device {(by means of an auxiliary contact H01H71/46)} · CPC title

• H01H2071/044

  Monitoring, detection or measuring systems to establish the end of life of the switching device, can also contain other on-line monitoring systems, e.g. for detecting mechanical failures · CPC title

• H01H2300/052

  Controlling, signalling or testing correct functioning of a switch · CPC title

• H01H73/36

  having electromagnetic release and no other automatic release (cartridge type H01H73/64) · CPC title

• G01R19/2513

  Arrangements for monitoring electric power systems, e.g. power lines or loads; Logging · CPC title