Electrical Protection

This research aims to evaluate the trends in the publication of papers on issues related to power circuit breakers, aimed at the technologies implemented, as well as those countries with higher level of publications, making a comparison between authors, research institutes, and a description of the last 10 years with more publications. All the information found in this report is compiled in bibliographic databases such as books of substation designs and research papers with a focus on electrical protection equipment and emphasis on high voltage switching devices. A technology research is conducted over the last ten years to analyze the state of the art of high voltage operating elements with respect to new technologies.

Resumen: Este artículo presenta el diseño de un sensor autónomo para sistemas de protección eléctrica empleando tecnologías innovadoras que, para su operación, se abastecen de recursos energéticos del medio ambiente y además requieren de un bajo consumo de potencia. El prototipo posee tarjetas electrónicas que operan en cuatro etapas. La primera etapa se encarga de adquirir datos reales de corriente de un sistema eléctrico de prueba. En la segunda etapa, mediante el preprocesamiento y análisis de datos, se detectan perturbaciones en la señal de corriente del sistema eléctrico de prueba. La tercera etapa comprende la comunicación de datos por radiofrecuencia, la cual se ejecuta solo cuando su algoritmo de procesamiento ha detectado valores de corriente anormales, caso contrario, la transmisión de información se mantiene deshabilitada y con el dispositivo operando en modo de ultra bajo consumo de energía. La última etapa del sensor autónomo se encarga de proveerlo de energía mediante baterías de litio-polímero y paneles fotovoltaicos que aprovechan el uso y almacenamiento de la energía solar. Finalmente, para probar el sensor diseñado, se realizan varias pruebas de funcionamiento y se analizan los resultados obtenidos.

Abstract: This article constitutes the design of an autonomous sensor for electrical protection systems using new technologies that includes energy harvesting and the low power consumption of the electronic elements used. The prototype is developed in four stages. The first stage focuses on acquiring information from an external electrical system using a current sensor, that data is processed in the second stage by the development card which detects when a disturbance occurs in the current signal of the external electrical system and prioritizes the low power consumption of the devices when it is not necessary to transmit information. The third stage covers radio frequency data communication, which is executed once the processing algorithm has detected that the current exceeds the limits of normal operation, otherwise the transmission of information is disabled, and the device is in a low consumption mode. The last stage makes energy harvesting and storage of it, using solar modules, the solar radiation is harvested and transformed into electrical energy, the same that feeds the prototype, the excess energy is stored in a lithium-polymer battery, which works in absence of solar radiation. Finally, the equipment is integrated in a printed circuit board that constitutes the final prototype. To verify the correct operation of the designed sensor, many operation tests are carried out and the results obtained are analyzed.