Detection of electrical theft from a transformer secondary

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9709604-B2
Application number	US-201514702756-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 3, 2015
Priority date	May 3, 2015
Publication date	Jul 18, 2017
Grant date	Jul 18, 2017

Abstract

Techniques for identifying electrical theft are described herein. In an example, a secondary voltage of a transformer may be inferred by repeated voltage and current measurement at each meter associated with the transformer. A difference in measured voltage values, divided by a difference in measured current values, estimates impedance at the meter. The calculated impedance, together with measured voltage and current values, determine a voltage at the transformer secondary. Such voltages calculated by each meter associated with a transformer may be averaged, to indicate the transformer secondary voltage. A transformer having lower-than-expected secondary voltage is identified, based in part on comparison to the secondary voltages of other transformers. Each meter associated with the identified transformer may be evaluated to determine if the unexpected voltage is due to a load on the transformer. If a load did not result in the unexpected secondary voltage, power diversion may be reported.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
under control of one or more processors configured with executable instructions:
calculating voltages at a secondary of each of a plurality of transformers;
comparing the calculated voltages associated with each of the plurality of transformers to identify a transformer having calculated voltages that are lower than a first threshold, or having calculated voltages that have variance greater than a second threshold, based at least in part on calculated voltages of other transformers;
determining that load changes measured by one or more meters associated with the identified transformer fail to justify the calculated voltages being less than the first threshold or having variance that is greater than the second threshold; and
indicating a possibility of power diversion based at least in part on the failure of the load changes measured by the one or more meters associated with the identified transformer to justify the calculated voltages being lower than the first threshold or the calculated voltages having variance that is greater than the second threshold.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the voltage at the secondary of each of the plurality of transformers comprises:
measuring voltages and currents over time at each of a plurality of meters connected to a same transformer; and
calculating the voltage at the secondary of the same transformer based at least in part on the measured voltages and measured currents.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the voltage at the secondary of each of the plurality of transformers comprises:
making paired voltage and current measurements over time at the one or more meters;
calculating impedance at the one or more meters based on change in voltage divided by change in current obtained from the paired voltage and current measurements; and
calculating the voltage at the secondary using the calculated impedance and measured voltage and measured current from the paired voltage measurements.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the calculated voltages comprises:
identifying transformers whose voltages have greater variance, the variance not justified by load variability, than other transformers.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the calculated voltages comprises:
determining a transformer has a lower secondary voltage than is indicated by secondary voltages of other known transformers on a same primary line.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining comprises:
analyzing each meter associated with the identified transformer to determine if changes in voltages measured by the meter correspond to changes in current measured by the meter.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the comparing comprises recognizing a change in a ranking of the plurality of transformers by voltage at a secondary of each transformer; and
the determining comprises determining that a change in load is not contemporaneous to the recognized change in the ranking.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the comparing comprises comparing calculated voltages of transformers for an indication of an unauthorized transformer; and
the indicating comprises indicating a possibility of the unauthorized transformer.

9. A smart electrical grid, comprising:
a plurality of transformers;
a plurality electric meters, wherein each electric meter is configured to receive electrical current from a transformer from among the plurality of transformers;
a computing device in communication with at least one of the plurality of transformers or at least one of the plurality of electric meters, the computing device including memory storing an application that, when executed, causes the computing device to perform acts comprising:
calculating voltages at a secondary of at least one transformer of the plurality of transformers;
identifying a transformer having calculated voltages that are lower than a first threshold, or having calculated voltages that have variance greater than a second threshold;
determining that load changes measured by one or more electric meters associated with the identified transformer are insufficient to result in the calculated voltages of the identified transformer being less than the first threshold or the variance being greater than the second threshold; and
indicating a possibility of power diversion based at least in part on failure of the load changes measured by the one or more meters associated with the identified transformer to indicate that the calculated voltages would be lower than the first threshold or the calculated voltages having variance that is greater than the second threshold.

10. The smart electrical grid as recited in claim 9 , wherein calculating the voltages at the secondary of the at least one transformer of the plurality of transformers comprises:
measuring voltage and current over time at each of the one or more electric meters associated with the identified transformer; and
calculating the voltage at the secondary of the at least one transformer based at least in part on the measured voltage and the measured current.

11. The smart electrical grid as recited in claim 9 , wherein calculating the voltages at the secondary of the at least one transformer of the plurality of transformers comprises:
making paired voltage and current measurements over time at the one or more meters associated with the identified transformer;
calculating impedance at the one or more meters associated with the identified transformer based on change in voltage divided by change in current obtained from the paired voltage and current measurements; and
calculating voltage at the secondary using the calculated impedance and the paired voltage and current measurements.

12. The smart electrical grid as recited in claim 9 , wherein identifying the transformer comprises:
identifying a transformer with a lower secondary voltage than secondary voltages of other transformers on a same primary line.

13. The smart electrical grid as recited in claim 9 , wherein the determining comprises:
analyzing each of the one or more meters associated with the identified transformer to determine if measured changes in voltages correspond to measured changes in current.

14. The smart electrical grid as recited in claim 9 , additionally comprising:
comparing calculated voltages associated with at least two transformers;
wherein identifying of the transformer is based at least in part on the comparing.

15. A computing device, comprising:
a processor;
a memory device, in communication with the processor;
an application, stored on the memory device and operable by the processor, to perform acts comprising:
calculating voltages at a secondary of at least one of a plurality of transformers;
identifying a transformer having calculated voltages that are lower than a first threshold, or having calculated voltages that have variance greater than a second threshold;
determining that load changes measured by one or more electric meters associated with the identified transformer are insufficient to result in the calculated voltages of the identified transformer being less than the first threshold or the variance being greater than the second threshold; and
indicating a possibility of power diversion based at least in part on failure of the load changes measured by the one or more meters associated with the identified transformer to indicate that the calculated voltages would be lower than the first threshold or the calculated voltages having variance that is greater than the second threshold.

Assignees

• Itron Inc

Inventors

• Driscoll Timothy James
• Sonderegger Robert

Classifications

• G01R19/165

  Indicating that current or voltage is either above or below a predetermined value or within or outside a predetermined range of values · CPC title

• G01R11/24 Primary

  Arrangements for avoiding or indicating fraudulent use · CPC title

• G01R22/066 Primary

  Arrangements for avoiding or indicating fraudulent use · CPC title