Strengthening System Protection to Prevent Costly Outages
ABB enhanced system protection for an Indian chemical manufacturer, improving reliability and reducing outages.
Helping keep production on schedule
How an Indian chemical manufacturer strengthened system protection and to prevent costly outages.
A leading Indian chemicals manufacturer is enjoying significant improvements in uptime and reliability thanks to ABB upgrades in their protection technology that reduces the likelihood of power related disruptions – helping keep production on schedule and protecting their most valuable assets.
The manufacturer, which specialises in the production of Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA), had been experiencing power transformer issues at two of its sites in West Bengal in India. ABB’s Electrification Service team was engaged to assess the problem and identify a solution.
At one site, faults occurring at the customer’s end of the transformer system were tripping an ABB-supplied IS-Limiter, compromising its operation. In addition, a lack of coupler connections between the two transformers meant that when a site’s transformer suffered an extended outage it caused severe disruption to the plant’s operations. A lack of on-site redundancy meant there was no option of source switching.
The customer partnered ABB to perform a thorough technical study, which involved carrying out a system analysis using simulations and calculations based on the different operating conditions which could occur at the plants. This also included simulating the installation of an additional 6.6kV IS-Limiter with tie vacuum circuit breaker (VCB) switchgear to provide power redundancy for the power supply at both plants.
The IS-Limiter used by the customer is the fastest switching device in the world. It uses a small charge to open the main conductor – which is designed to carry high operating currents – within just 0.6 milliseconds. This ultra-fast tripping action ensures immediate interruption of high short-circuit currents, providing best-in-class protection and significantly improving system reliability and safety.
The manufacturer was highly satisfied with the results from ABB‘s in-depth feasibility study. The recommended solution was an additional IS-Limiter to be added to each transformer to provide full system protection. The complete selectivity means that both IS-Limiters are able to protect all potential fault locations. For the customer, this means a safer, more reliable and more resilient electrical system, with fewer outages, fewer disruptions and lower risk to both people and equipment.
