Static Exciter and Protective Relaying Packages

This is a view of one of the three megawatt excitation units in service. The arrangement and labeling of the displays, pilot lights, operators and protective relay fronts present a clear, uncluttered interface for the operator.

The physical plant engineering group at the university of Oklahoma had plans to modernize their campus generation facility. This equipment was used to compensate peak demand periods and to "clip vars" thereby significantly reducing their utility overhead. A part of the modernization called for the replacement of antiquated rotary exciters, protective relaying, displays and associated control. The window for installation and commissioning was extremely narrow.

PROBLEM:

The plan called for the static exciter manufacturer to install and check out all of the protective relaying prior to shipment. Unfortunately a backlog at the static exciter manufacturer’s facility created a potentially expensive situation in that the promised delivery date was not going to be met.

SOLUTION:

A "skeleton" exciter in an enclosure was obtained in a timely manner. The procurement of protective relaying, annunciation, digital displays, and control devices, etc. was taken over and expedited by our manufacturing group. The bulk of device/component installation and wiring was completed in our shop with the balance being done on site. The result? Two 3 megawatt and one 5 megawatt packages were delivered and commissioned on time.

This view illustrates the wiring techniques used on the project. As always, careful attention was given to the routing and protection of conductors. A partition separates the primary section from this secondary section. Interior real estate was expensive. All three interior walls were fitted with back panels on which components were mounted.

This system revision has allowed the university to add control and monitoring features as their budget would allow. Provisions for the monitoring of control mode (voltage or var), switch states, and various other data are available for incorporation of a data acquisition and control system at a later date. The digital displays with retransmit capability used on these units were later incorporated throughout the facility. Watt transducers have since been installed on all feeders and connected to a central computer to monitor all incoming power to the campus. This has allowed the facility to arrive at a load shedding, bus tie control scheme in the event of power loss. This was desirable for the protection of the many ongoing experiments on campus. This static exciter upgrade and a governor upgrade were accomplished on three generators concurrently.

We are convinced that aesthetic appearance and neatness are important for a number of reasons, not the least of which is instilling an element of pride in maintaining personnel toward the equipment. And yes, it costs a little more.

Last modified: April 07, 2010

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