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HOME > POWER QUALITY > SAVING ENERGY THROUGH LOAD BALANCING AND SCHEDULING

SavingEnergyThroughLoadBalancingandScheduling
Themoredatayouhavetoanalyze,themore
likelyyouaretocomeupwithenergysavingideas
RandyBarnett,AmericanTrainco,Inc.,fortheFlukeCorp.|ElectricalConstructionand
Maintenance
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Jan1,2009

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You can find significant energy-saving opportunities through load balancing and load scheduling when
using power logging test tools. Whether conducting an energy audit or troubleshooting to find energy
losses, a typical power logging session should record several factors, including voltage, current, power
trends, transients, and event logs. Although analysis of each parameter is important in the overall

Youcanfindsignificantenergysavingopportunities
throughloadbalancingandloadschedulingwhenusing
powerloggingtesttools.Whetherconductinganenergy
auditortroubleshootingtofindenergylosses,atypical
powerloggingsessionshouldrecordseveralfactors,
includingvoltage,current,powertrends,transients,and
eventlogs.

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Althoughanalysisofeachparameterisimportantintheoverallschemeofreducing
energycosts,thefocusofthisarticlewillbeonreducingyourenergybillbybalancing
loadsacrossa3phasedistributionsystemandschedulingtheoperationofcertainloads
toreduceenergydemand.Therefore,we'llconcentrateontakingvoltageandcurrent
unbalancereadingstodetermineloadbalancingissuesandonrecordingpowerand
relatedeventstoidentifyloadschedulingissues.
Loadbalancing

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Systemdesignersandelectriciansusuallytrytobalanceloadsacrossa3phase
distributionsystemduringinstallation.LoadsarecalculatedinaccordancewithNECArt.

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220basedontheirvoltamperes(VA)orkilovoltamperes(kVA),ratherthanwatts(W)
orkilowatts(kW).Thisprovidesanaccurateanalysisoftheamperevaluesthatwillflow
inthecircuit.Eventhoughnoninductiveloadratingsareexpressedinwattsorin
kilowatts,thesewattageratingscanbeconsideredtheequivalentofthesameratingin
voltamperesorkilovoltamperes.Understandinghowloadsarecalculatedandthe
associatedunitsofmeasurementallowsforproperpowerqualityinstrumentsetup,results
interpretation,andcorrectiveactiondecisions.
Electriciansinstallequipmentandusuallydividekilovoltamperesbetweenphasessuch
thateachphasewillcarryanequalamountofload.Thisconcept,however,holdstruein
theoryonly.Inthepracticalworld,the3phasesystemisrarelyperfectlybalanced.Load
unbalance(imbalance)manifestsasavoltageandcurrentunbalance.Therefore,you
mustmonitorandrecordbothvoltageandcurrenttodeterminetheextentoftheload
imbalanceinasystem.
Youcanuseoneoftwomethodstodetermineanunbalancesituation.Thefirst,which
manyrefertoastheIEEEorNEMAmethod,usesadigitalmultimeter(DMM)totake
spotvoltagereadings.Tousethismethod,youmeasurethethreephasetophasevoltage
readings(AB,AC,BC),sumtheirvalues,andthendividebythreetoobtaintheaverage
voltage.Anyphasevoltagereadingthatdeviatesbymorethan1%fromtheaveragevalue
warrantscorrectiveaction.

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Whilethisprocessshouldbeoneofyourfirststepswhentroubleshootinganidentified
unbalanceproblem,itwillnotprovideforanaccurateanalysisovertimeasloadscycleon
andoff.Thisrequirestrendingorpowerlogging.

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Inthisexampleofunbalance,theV_neg
of9.2%indicatesexpectedoverheatingof3phase
motorsandtransformersandreductionsofmotor
torqueandspeed.TheV_zeroof8.2%
indicatesexcessivecurrentflowintheneutraldue
totheunbalance,withexpectedoverheatingof
conductorsandtransformers.

Somemakesofpowerqualityanalyzersandpowerloggersuseamathematicaltoolcalled
themethodofsymmetricalcomponentstoanalyzeunbalance.Thismethodnotonly
simplifiesthevoltageimbalanceconceptbyprovidingagraphicalrepresentationof
unbalanceinvectorformat,butitalsoprovidesaccurateanddetailedinformationtobe
usedforanalysis.Basically,theseinstrumentsspliteachphasevoltageandcurrentinto
threeseparatecomponents:thepositive,negative,andzerosequences.
Thepositivesequencecomponentrepresentsthenormalvoltageorcurrentinabalanced
3phasesystem.Thenegativesequencevoltageorcurrentiscreatedbyanunbalancein
thesystemandresultsinoverheatingininductiveloadssuchasmotorsandtransformers.
Thiscomponentisalsoresponsibleforreducingmotortorqueandcanaffectspeed.The
zerosequencecomponentrepresentstheunbalancedcurrentthatflowsintheneutralof
the3phase,4wiresystem.Thisresultsinenergylossesintheformofheatinconductors
andtransformers.
TheEN50160powerqualitystandard,VoltageDisturbances:VoltageCharacteristicsin
PublicDistributionSystems,(fromtheLeonardoPowerQualityInitiative)setsthe
maximumunbalanceat2%atthepointofcommoncoupling(PCC),whichistheratioof
thenegativesequencecomponent(Vneg)tothepositivesequencecomponent,orthezero
sequencecomponent(Vzero)tothepositivesequencecomponent.Neithervalueshould
exceed2%(Figureonpage18).Iftheselimitsareexceeded,youshouldisolateand
correctthesourceoftheproblem,orenergylossescouldbecomesubstantial.Aftera
powerloggingsession,downloadthedatatoaPCandanalyze.
Youmustalsoconsidertheoptionsavailablewhensettingarecorderinstrumenttolog
voltageunbalanceparameters,includingthefollowingvalues:

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Themoredataavailabletoanalyze,themorelikelyyouaretocomeupwithenergysaving
ideas.However,donotbeoverwhelmedwithdata.Youshouldselectonlythespecificset
ofdatayouwishtoanalyzeatonetime.Armedwithknowledgeofwhatsinglephase
equipmentwasoperatingatwhattimeandwithanuptodateonelinediagramofthe
distributionsystemyoucannowisolateloadsandequalizethemacrossallthreephases
tocorrecttheunbalanceproblem.

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Inadditiontoreducingenergycoststhroughloadbalancing,youcanalsocreate
immediateenergysavingsthroughloadscheduling,whichisthepartofenergyload
managementthatminimizesdemand.
Electricutilitieschargelargecommercialandindustrialcustomersapeakdemand
penaltyinadditiontothetotalusageofelectricityoverthebillingperiod.Maximum
demandisthemaximumamountofelectricityusedbyacustomeratanypointintime.
Theelectricutilitymustbecapableofsupplyingthisload,mustsizeitsdistribution
equipmentaccordingly,andwillthereforechargethecustomertobeabletomeetthis
need.
Thismaximumelectricalenergyusage,ordemand,isaveragedovera15min.period
(typical),anddeterminestheratescheduleatwhichacustomerwillbecharged.Peak
demandisusuallycausedbyaspikeinpowerconsumption,mostoftenwhenmultiple
loadscomeonsimultaneously.Theseadditionalpenaltiescanbehighandadd
significantlytothecostofelectricalenergy.Itonlymakessensetominimizetheamount
ofpeakpowerbeingused,ifatallpossible.Powerloggingprovidesthisopportunity.
Ifyouareattemptingtomoreeffectivelyscheduleloadoperation,conductpowerlogging
recordingsessionstomeasureenergyusageovertimeandidentifylargeloadsthat
operateconcurrently.Useonelinediagramstodeterminetheenergydemandofvarious
loadsandcomparethemtooperatingneeds.Donotlookforjustoneparticularloadas
theculprit.Quiteoften,youmustworkwithoperationspersonnelandadjustaprocessby
staggeringcyclingtimes,orcompletecertainprocessesduringoffpeakhourstoreduce
demand.Youmustalsoworktogetherwithoperationsmanagementtoreviewthe
electricalenergybillandcompareittocollectedpowerloggingdatatoaidinmakingthe
bestplantoperationsandenergycostsavingsdecisions.
Youshouldalwaysbeginmonitoringattheserviceentrancetodeterminetotalenergy
usage.Settheaveragingtimeinthepowerloggerto15min.ifthat'sthetimeusedbyyour
utility.(Consultwithyourutilitytodeterminetheactualaveragingtime,as30min.may
alsobeused.)Inaddition,monitorpowerforanentirebillingcycleof30days.Thiswill
providethemostcomprehensiveinformation.Considerrepeatingthisonaseasonalbasis,
aspowerconsumptionrequirementschange.
ImportthedatatoyourPCuponcompletionoftheloggingsessionandsearchforperiods
whereenergyusageexceedsdesiredlimits.Identifytheequipmentcreatingthepeak
demandchargesbyobservingexcessiveusesofactivepower(kW).Finally,adjustplant
operationsandprocessesasnecessary,tominimizedemandcharges.
Youcanplayalargeroleinreducingplantenergycostsbysettingupapowerquality
instrumenttorecordneededvoltageandpowervalues.Byusingsoftwaretoanalyzethe
recordeddata,youcanreapthebenefitsofsignificantenergysavingsthroughproper
loadbalancingandloadscheduling.
BarnettistrainingdirectorforAmericanTrainco,Engelwood,Colo.,andtechnical
authorforFlukeCorp.,Everett,Wash.Hecanbereachedat
RandyB@americantrainco.com.

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