Utilities are looking for ways to address these issues in order to improve the reliability of electric power delivery while at the same time reducing costs.
By using thermal imaging and software, failures and security breaches can be detected anytime, day or night, at a remote monitoring location.
Substation components which are prone to fail include:
– Power transformers (oil levels and pump operation)
– Load tap changers (oil levels, other internal problems)
– Insulator bushings (oil levels and bad connections)
– Standoff insulators (moisture, contamination, degradation)
– Lightning arrestors (degradation of metal oxide disks)
– Circuit breakers (oil or SF6 leakage)
– Mechanical disconnects (bad connections, contamination)
– Control cabinets (wear and tear on fans, pumps, and other components)
– Batteries
Thermal Imaging For Substation Monitoring
Thermal imaging technology can improve the reliability and security of electric substations. Although electric utilities have for many years used handheld thermal imaging cameras to monitor substation equipment, quite some are now turning to permanently installed thermal imaging.
FLIR A310 is a fixed mounted thermal imaging camera. It can be easily integrated in an all weather housing and installed almost anywhere to monitor critical equipment and other valuable
assets. It can safeguard your substation and measure temperature differences to assess the criticality of the situation. This allows you to see problems before they become costly
failures, preventing downtime and enhancing worker safety.
Features incorporated in the FLIR A310 are:
• Built-in extensive analysis functions
• Built-in alarm functions
• Ethernet/IP and Modbus TCP compliance
• Easy sharing of analysis, alarm results to PLC’s.
• PoE (Power over Ethernet)
• Digital inputs/outputs
• Built-in 100 Mb Ethernet connection
Schematic overview of substation monitoring system
The diagram on this page depicts a typical substation monitoring system that uses FLIR
A310 thermal imaging cameras.
Systems of this type have been installed at substations worldwide, if you have any questions please fill in the form below: