Are you having problems with your equipment, or have you noticed any of the following?
- The chillers at your facility frequently trip off-line.
- The Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) in your facility trip off-line at the same time every day.
- The motors in your plant trip off-line when there is a "power surge"
- The Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for your computer has frequently been beeping and switching to battery.
- What you consider to be excessively frequent power interruptions are impairing production.
Events like these can result from reliability or power quality issues. They may originate from the utility system, your facility, or even the affected equipment itself.
Most power outages or disturbances are caused by events beyond the control of a utility. Common sources of disturbances (see illustration) include the following:
- Lightning
- Insulator flashovers
- Digging on underground lines
- Automobile collisions
- Birds, squirrels and other wildlife
- Trees and vegetation
- Strong winds
- Vandalism
- Equipment failures
- Switching and maintenance
Common sources of power disturbances
