Electrical Contracting News (ECN) October 2017 | Page 48

SPECIAL
FEATURE
The latest
innovations in
circuit-level energy
intelligence are
crucial to the
infrastructure of
ensuring a new and
improved level of
operational building
intelligence.
CIRCUIT PROTECTION & SWITCHGEAR
PLAYING IT SMART
Intelligent circuit breaker sensors can provide a more effective
approach to circuit protection, says Gary Buckingham, product
and segment marketing manager at Schneider Electric.
I
n today’s challenging market,
businesses are tasked with
cutting costs, increasing
revenue and saving energy.
Extending the life of electrical
switchgear is one avenue
that many are choosing, and
extending the average life of
switchgear from a base of 10 to more
than 40 years can radically reduce the
cost of replacement and prove to be an
excellent cost-cutting strategy.
The benefits of extending the life of
equipment are self-evident. Damage or
faults endanger the health of the electrical
circuit, potentially leading to significant
business disruption and costs. To avoid these
dangers and ensure smooth operation,
there is growing interest in how cutting-edge
48 | October 2017
technologies can be used to enhance circuit
protection and facilitate an alternative, more
effective maintenance strategy. The latest
innovations in circuit-level energy intelligence
are crucial to the infrastructure of ensuring
a new and improved level of operational
building intelligence.
Smart aproach
The cost of maintenance and servicing,
particularly around switchgear, is an
almost universal challenge faced by
businesses. This stems from a need for
regular check-ups over the course of the
extended life of the equipment. Yet this
ultimately results in an over-reliance on
a time-based preventative maintenance
strategy, where equipment is checked at
set time periods regardless of the status
of the equipment. In this setup, faults and
electrical damage are often discovered too
late and must be repaired, at great cost
and disruption.
When it comes to circuit and equipment
protection, many organisations are simply
going through the motions. Facing limited
resources and an expensive and endless
cycle of maintenance, organisations would
greatly benefit from being able to anticipate
and predict problems such as electrical
faults, cable overloads, short circuits and
insulation faults before they become a
costly issue.
Fortunately, recent advances have led
to the introduction of intelligent circuit
breaker sensors which provide for a more
effective, condition-based approach.