ETAP Showcased at I&CPS Hospitality Event

IEEE recently held it’s I&CPS Conference in beautiful Newport Beach, California, which is just a few miles from our headquarters in Irvine, CA.  Held the week of May 2, the I&CPS conference attracted experts in the industrial application of electrical systems, including many of our own engineers. These professionals interacted with one another in a series of tutorials, technical paper presentations, and working group meetings.

ETAP was represented at the conference with a booth display and also hosted a hospitality event at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach. Over 50 conference attendees mingled with members of the ETAP team to exchange thoughts on power system protection, energy systems, and the multi-functionality of our software and services.  It took place in a tented outdoor arbor area, complete with delicious food and a fantastic jazz band that had everyone dancing by night’s end.

On display during the hospitality event were demonstrations of ETAP and ETAP Real-Time™, including  arc flash, short circuit, load shedding, and power management capabilities.

ETAP would like to thank everyone who came out to our hospitality event as well as IEEE for organizing this year’s successful I&CPS conference.

The Importance of User Groups

Recent User Group on Performing Generator Circuit Breaker Short Circuit Duty Calculations per ANSI Std. C37.013

ETAP is powerful software with multiple levels of functionality. While there are many resources available to the ETAP user to improve their skills with the software, such as tutorials and workshops, one of the best resources is another ETAP user. When users get together, they learn from each other by comparing notes on projects and challenges.

When an ETAP User Group meets, individuals in the group will ask questions others may never have thought of, or share tips, shortcuts, and advice that will make others’ work flow even more efficient.

Organized user groups typically meet once a month at a host facility. The highlight of the meeting, besides the socializing, is a presentation by a member on a timely topic. This is usually followed by a discussion (and more socializing). Most user group meetings last about two hours.

Topics at recent ETAP user groups include:
- How to Use ETAP to Perform Generator Circuit Breaker Short Circuit Duty Calculations per ANSI Std. C37.013
- Renewable Energy – Introduction to Solar Power Systems
- New Case Study on ETAP Real-Time™ – Power Management System at a Large Industrial Facility
- Considerations When Applying High Resistance Grounding to Reduce the Possibility of an Arc Flash Event
- Modeling, Analysis, and Operation of High-Voltage Adjustable Frequency Drives

User groups create camaraderie and excitement about ETAP. Consider joining an ETAP user group in your area. If one doesn’t exist, we can help you start one.

To find an ETAP User Group in your area, visit http://etap.com/industries/etap-user-groups-list.htm or send a note to info@etap.com.

Short Circuit Duty Calculations Discussion at January User Group Meeting

The Southern California User Group met January 25 to hear a presentation by Herminio Abcede, Principal Technical Specialist at Fluor Corporation, and chairman of the user group.

His presentation discussed how to perform Short Circuit Duty calculations for Generator Circuit Breakers in accordance with the requirements of ANSI Std C37.013. Specifically, the discussion focused on the calculations for generator short circuit contribution for both an unloaded and fully loaded generator prior to the occurrence of the fault. The phenomenon, called “delayed current zero” in the generator contribution, will also be covered. Ideas on how the effects of arcing can be included in the present algorithm were solicited from the group and discussed.

The agenda included:

• Generator SC Current Characteristics
• The “Delayed Current Zeros” Phenomenon
• Influence of TRV on CB SC current interruption
• ETAP GCB Duty Calculation (ANSI SC Duty module)
• Comparison of Switchgear CB and GCB Capabilities
• CB SC Duty Evaluation for GCB Application Using ETAP Results
• Suggestions for Enhancements

ETAP Technical Paper Takes First Place at 2010 CNPCI Conference

ETAP takes First Place for “Study of Selecting Electrical System Operation Mode of a Petrochemical Plant Using Load Flow and Short-Circuit Analysis"

The accolades just keep piling up for ETAP and its skillful engineers- another technical paper of ours was awarded 1^st place.

From November 11^th to 12^th, Shenzhen played host to the 2010 China National Petroleum and Chemical Industry Electrical Technology Annual Conference.

Over 200 industry experts descended upon the conference which covered a variety of topics and fields such as oil, chemical, petroleum, and manufacturing. Also at the conference, technical papers were presented to the many onlookers.

Our very own Dr. J.J. Dai co-authored a paper with ETAP user Guangzhou Petrochemical Plant entitled “Study of Selecting Electrical System Operation Mode of a Petrochemical Plant Using Load Flow and Short-Circuit Analysis.” J.J., along with OTI Far East and a slew of other competitors, was vying for the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Science and Technology Award/Outstanding Paper Award. Proving that ETAP has engineers par excellence, J.J.’s paper was awarded 1^st place, a huge honor for the ETAP team.  ETAP has now won this award for several consecutive years, testament to ETAP’s talented engineers.

Congratulations to J.J. and OTI Far East for their outstanding accomplishment and for being wonderful global representatives of ETAP!

Our ETAP Automation Office in Dubai: Serving the Middle East with Power Engineering Solutions

ETAP Automation™ Dubai

The Middle East is a region full of power engineering talent and creativity. ETAP recognizes this and devotes much time and consideration to aiding both veteran and newly minted power engineers. Power System Engineering workshops are being held throughout the region, with our two most current ones having taken place in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

These workshops cover crucial material such as:

AC System Modeling, Load Flow Analysis, Short Circuit Analysis, Device Coordination, Sequence of Operation, Arc Flash Hazard Analysis, Motor Acceleration Analysis, Transient Stability, Predictive Simulation, and Real-Time Overviews.

Each of these topics caters to the daily needs of modern power engineers. In addition to fostering the minds of those already interested in ETAP, we are trying to spread awareness of our unique enterprise software solution by exhibiting at tradeshows in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. These tradeshows showcase ETAP and provide you with fresh perspectives of our software. In turn, we can continue to develop ETAP to fit your needs. Furthermore, with our ETAP Automation™ office being situated in Dubai, our Middle East customers are guaranteed local support and engineering consulting.

Characteristics of a Good Power System Training Station

Many utility and large industrial operators are currently seeking power system training stations for operator training. Operation Technology, Inc (OTI) has been developing power system simulators utilizing power management system data for nearly 20 years, with the first system installation in 1991. Since then, the system has been enhanced and is currently a full-fledged power management system.

The following characteristics are important in a successful and efficient operator training tool:

1. Interchange information from existing SCADA systems
2. Complete understanding of an electrical system including its component capabilities
3. Historical data retrieval for playback and generation of study scenarios
4. Collection of analysis modules such as load flow, short-circuit, arc-flash, device coordination, transient stability, optimal power flow and more
5. Ability to easily transfer information to other departments such as planning, maintenance, etc

Currently ETAP is the only software in operation that meets such characteristics. All power simulation modules in the software have the capability to bring power management system as well as historical data from its playback archive to develop scenarios for operators to study. Historical data from playback is a great way to generate real-life scenarios for operators to study alternate solutions, while the power management system data function can even help during normal operation to predict system response before any action is taken.

The Role of ETAP’s Library

The Role of ETAP’s Library

In order to understand the role of ETAP’s library, we need to use an analogy that relates to real life.

Basically, imagine a car (ETAP), that has 22 engines (modules) and each engine requires its own type of  fuel (data).

The user can repetitively enter the same specific set of data and curves every time for each fuse, breaker, or relay model made by every manufacturer. However, a better idea is to enter this specific set of data for that particular model only once, whether by the user or by OTI, and the user can load it as many times from the library as he wants for whichever project he is working on.

Now, think of a module, such as Arc Flash, whose primary function is to calculate the incident energy of a possible arc flash from a panel, which in turn, will help the technician determine what precautions needs to be taken before working on that panel. As per the introduction of section 4 of IEEE Std 1584-2002, the incident energy calculation depends on the time the protective device, a relay for example, takes to disconnect the energized panel. The disconnection time is determined from the Time-Current Characteristic (TCC) curves which are stored in ETAP’s library.

This time, imagine the car has not been filled with its specific type of fuel (the TCC curves), which obviously means the car won’t take you very far (No results). This is exactly what’s going to happen when you run Arc Flash analysis without the data being loaded from the library to the breakers, fuses, relays, or etc. ETAP will successfully calculate the short circuit currents, however, when it comes time to determine how long it will take to disconnect a branch from the system, ETAP will see a breaker that has no data inside of it that tells that it’s supposed to trip in 0.1 seconds. ETAP in turn will give an error message, “FCT Not Determined”, which means that ETAP could not calculate the Fault Clearing Time (FCT), instead of giving the incident energy results.

The example above can be applied to other modules, such as Load Flow, Short Circuit, Motor Starting, etc.

It’s very important to realize that without utilization of ETAP’s Library data, ETAP’s functionality is seriously reduced.

President Announces Nearly $2B for Solar

ETAP PV Solar Capabilities

Last Saturday, President Obama announced that the U.S. Department of Energy will use last year’s stimulus bill to issue $1.85 billion in loan guarantees to two solar power companies.

One company, Abound Solar Manufacturing, will get $400 million to build two solar-panel manufacturing plants, one in an empty Chrysler supplier factory in Tipton, Indiana. The company estimates that building the two plants will require 2,000 workers and operating them will create 1,500 permanent positions; the company also says it will be first to use a new solar panel technology commercially.

Abound Solar Manufacturing, will manufacture state-of-the-art thin film solar panels, the first time anywhere that such technology has been used commercially. Thin film panels are noted for requiring more space to deploy given lower efficiencies, yet much cheaper to produce, one of the earlier solar use stumbling blocks.

This comes on the heels of ETAP noting new PV Solar capabilities in its next release.

Abengoa Solar Inc. is the other firm, whose plant will cover an area of around 1,900 acres near Gila Bend, Arizona. The company claims that the plant will be one of the first in the United States able to store its own power, while able to generate 280 megawatts of power. After construction, the plant will support approximately 85 permanent jobs, the company claims. This type of facility will use solar reflector technology, which will require a mirror plant to be built nearby, not yet officially announced.

Integrating Renewable Energy to Existing Utility Infrastructure Requires Smart Real-Time Energy Management Solution

ETAP Real-Time Energy Management Solution

The use of renewable energy is not new. More than 150 years ago, wood, which is one form of biomass, supplied up to 90 percent of our energy needs. As the use of coal, petroleum, and natural gas expanded, the world became less reliant on wood as an energy source. Today, we are looking again at clean renewable resources such as wind, solar thermal, photovoltaic and geothermal to help meet our growing energy needs. However, without energy storage device technology catching up with advances in renewable energy solutions, one energy problem will spawn another. While an ideal way to save energy on your favorite portable device, “Just-In-Time” (JIT) Energy produced and delivered by the power grid has to be used right away and no large scale storage devices exist to utilize this energy under emergency conditions. By adding distributed renewable energy sources, the problem of JIT energy will be compounded by the addition of “Unpredictable Energy”, such as wind and solar. Without a means to predict, control, and manage these sources we will begin placing additional burden on the already aging electric infrastructure.

In order for the mixture of conventional and green energy to succeed, i.e. “Plug-N-Play” convenience, utilities are going to need a proactive and smart energy management solution that would effectively manage distributed generation while maintaining reliability and stability of the electrical system.

Any renewable energy management system will require some degree of Merlin’s magic to be able to predict the behavior of renewable sources such as wind and solar. It would then use this prediction to estimate power injection into the utility and communicate it to the utility such that existing power management techniques, such as generation control, would be able to continue managing the overall power grid.

Such a renewable energy management system would also be able to model energy storage devices in extensive detail in order to effectively maintain level power injection into the utility. This will alleviate some of the burden from power management systems as they constantly try to manage supply and demand in the power grid.