The Benefits of Online Circuit Breaker Monitoring
The INCON® Optimizer3 Circuit Breaker Monitor is an online continuous performance monitor for high voltage circuit breakers, designed to facilitate condition-based maintenance with real-time performance and health data.
With early detection of circuit breaker deficiencies, the Optimizer3 enables utilities to proactively address issues before they escalate, saving both time and resources while helping to boost reliability. Deploy maintenance with intelligence, defer offline testing, limit truck rolls, and lower overall maintenance costs with the Optimizer3.
EXTEND CIRCUIT BREAKER LIFE
The combination of early detection, optimized maintenance, accurate performance data, reduced mechanical stress, and proactive issue resolution ensures that circuit breakers remain reliable and operational for longer.
DEFER OR ELIMINATE OFFLINE TESTING
The Optimizer3 transforms how utilities manage their maintenance programs by facilitating continuous, online testing in lieu of costly and time-consuming offline testing. The ability to collect testing data without de-energizing and load transfer translates to significant cost savings.
EMPLOY CONDITION-BASED MAINTENANCE
Armed with a high degree of circuit breaker performance insight from the Optimizer3, utilities can deploy maintenance with intelligence and only as needed. This limits truck rolls, speeds reaction time, and lowers overall maintenance costs – all while promoting safety with reduced on-site exposure.
The Optimizer3 is able to:
Monitors both mechanical and electrical performance
Provides a full assessment of a circuit breaker’s health
Delivers highly accurate mechanism timing monitoring
Estimates interrupter condition from internal arcing
Monitors SF6 gas attributes for regulatory reporting
Monitors the status of circuit breaker auxiliary systems
Circuit breaker agnostic for universal breaker compatibility
Defers or eliminates offline testing or major overhauls
Extends grease / travel test intervals
Provides edge intelligence by processing at the source
Enables planned outages vs. forced outages
Improves safety, minimizes truck rolls, reduces costs
BREAKER TIMING MONITORING
In the milliseconds it takes for a circuit breaker to trip, the Optimizer3 collects a full battery of timing data. Measurements including opening (trip) time, clearing time, arc duration, and opening/closing travel times and velocities are automatically analyzed to provide a full assessment of the circuit breaker’s health – something offline testing simply can’t deliver.
24/7 ONLINE MONITORING
Along with its array of sensors, the Optimizer3 monitors both the mechanical and electrical performance of the circuit breaker to perform trending analysis that predicts the date of future service. Monitoring data and reporting is delivered via a number of standard communication paths.
SF6 GAS MONITORING & REPORTING
The Optimizer3 can continuously measure SF6 gas density, pressure and temperature, and will assert an alarm if the pressure or density is too low. Low density and excess moisture can seriously compromise the insulating properties of SF6 gas and lead to a catastrophic failure. The Optimizer3 will detect and trend any SF6 leakage and provide an early warning, long before damage occurs while also automating EPA compliance reporting.
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