Jian Ting

Ankerui Electric Co., Ltd. Shanghai Jiading 201801

1 Current situation

In the power system, busbars with voltage levels of 35kV and below generally do not consider stability issues, so separate busbar protection is generally not installed. There are many outgoing lines on the medium and low voltage busbars in the south, with frequent operations. The distance between the three-phase conductor lines and the ground is relatively close, making them susceptible to small animal hazards. As a result, the failure probability of medium and low voltage busbars is much higher than that of high voltage and high-voltage busbars. Due to insufficient attention paid to the protection of medium and low voltage busbars, backup protection with significant delay is often used to cut off faults on the busbars, which often leads to the development and expansion of accidents and causes huge economic losses. Most of the reasons are due to the lack of separately installed medium and low voltage bus protection, which resulted in the failure to quickly cut off faults. During the use of the equipment, frequent operations are carried out on the busbar, and insulation aging and mechanical wear of the equipment are inevitable phenomena. Changes in operating conditions and human operation errors can lead to an increase in busbar failure rates, posing safety hazards to the operation of the substation.

What is arc protection?

Arc protection is a protective measure that quickly removes faults in medium and low voltage busbars, limiting the harm of arc faults to personnel and equipment. Arc protection products typically consist of arc sensors, main control units, trip outlets, and other components. When an arc fault occurs in the system, the arc sensor detects the arc signal and transmits it to the main control unit. After analysis and judgment, the main control unit issues a trip command to quickly cut off the faulty circuit and prevent the accident from escalating.

What scenarios will arc light occur in?

1. Equipment failure or aging: abnormal contacts of switchgear, cable wiring faults, transformer and motor faults, which are prone to arc light caused by poor contact and insulation damage;

2. Improper operation or maintenance: live operation errors, insulation failure of maintenance tools, failure to handle faults in a standardized manner can artificially cause arc light to occur;

3. Induced by environmental factors: Wet and polluted environments reduce insulation strength, and environments with flammable and explosive dust are not only prone to arcing, but may also cause explosions;

4. High frequency scenarios in specific industries: industrial manufacturing high load equipment, temporary lines for building infrastructure, data center full load systems, etc. Due to environmental or operational characteristics, the risk of arc light is higher

4 Solutions

The ARB6 series arc protection device integrates multiple functions such as protection, measurement, monitoring, control, communication, fault recording, and event recording. It can monitor arc signals, protect current or voltage increments in real time, and quickly cut off arc faults in 0.4kV~35kV medium and low voltage distribution systems.

5 Arc protection device

1) Overview

The ARB6 series arc protection device consists of an ARB6 arc protection device, an ARB-S arc probe, and an arc plastic optical fiber.

The hardware adopts a standardized design (the device integrates power module, CPU module, arc light acquisition module, current and voltage acquisition module, input/output module, communication module, human-machine interface module, etc.), which can achieve direct acquisition and control mode, saving a lot of time in signal processing and signal transmission and exchange between devices, thus better meeting the requirements of fast and reliable arc light protection; The device software is equipped with specialized protection algorithms, which have strong anti-interference performance, high reliability, and flexible protection implementation methods. It can be used in conjunction with the Acrel-2000 power monitoring system to provide guarantees for the safe and reliable operation of the power system.

The ARB6 series arc protection device is easy to operate, resource rich, stable and reliable, and easy to maintain. It is widely used in industries such as power, water conservancy, transportation, industry, mining, new energy, ships, and buildings.

2) Function

Note: √ indicates this function, ■ indicates optional function.

For detailed information, please consult the author!!!

6 Probe Installation Scenarios

1) Installation of arc light probe in busbar room

2) Installation of arc light probe in handcart room

3) Installation of arc light probe in cable room