Electric circuit health indicator and efficiency improvement device and method

1 . A circuit health, efficiency and capacity (CHEC) monitor for use in an electrical power distribution system including a control panel connected to a 3-phase power source and a plurality of loads, the CHEC monitor comprising:

a power parameters measurement component structured to measure power parameters of a power bus electrically connected to the control panel;

a metrics value calculator electrically connected to the power parameters measurement component and structured to receive the measured power parameters and calculate metric values of a plurality of metrics over first periodic intervals;

a metrics average calculator electrically connected to the metrics value calculator and structured to obtain an average for each metric value over a second periodic interval;

a metrics normalizer electrically connected to the metrics value calculator and structured to normalize the average for each metric value and obtain a normalized metric index for each metric;

a CHEC Index selector electrically connected to the metrics normalizer and structured to select a maximum metric index from the normalized metric indexes as a latest CHEC Index; and

a CHEC Index indicator electrically connected to the CHEC Index selector and structured to provide the latest CHEC Index,

wherein the metric value calculator comprises a voltage unbalance determination component, a current unbalance determination component, an over-under voltage determination component, a capacity determination component, a power factor (PF) determination component, and a loading factor (LF) determination component,

wherein the over-under voltage determination component is structured to determine that the electrical power distribution system is operating at over voltage based on a determination that voltage applied is above average voltage and that the electrical power distribution system is operating at under voltage based on a determination that voltage applied is below the average voltage.

2 . The CHEC monitor of claim 1 , further comprising:

a weight applicator electrically connected to the metrics normalizer and the CHEC Index selector and structured to apply a weight to each normalized metric index and transmit the weighted normalized metric indexes to the CHEC Index selector.

3 . The CHEC monitor of claim 1 , wherein the power parameters measurement component comprises:

a sampler structured to obtain a plurality of current and voltage samples per cycle;

a root-mean-square (RMS) voltage calculator structured to calculate a per-phase and system RMS voltage;

an RMS current calculator structured to calculate a per-phase and system RMS current;

an RMS power calculator structured to calculate 3-phase real power (Watts) and apparent power (VA);

a voltage symmetrical components calculator structured to calculate positive-sequence and negative sequence symmetrical components for voltage; and

a current symmetrical components calculator structured to calculate positive sequence and negative sequence symmetrical components for current.

4 . The CHEC monitor of claim 1 , wherein the voltage unbalance determination component is structured to calculate a percentage of voltage unbalance as:

100

*

(

Voltage

negative

⁢

_

⁢

sequence

/

Voltage

positive

⁢

_

⁢

sequence

)

,

and

wherein the current unbalance determination component is structured to calculate a percentage of current unbalance as:

100

*

(

Current

negative

⁢

_

⁢

sequence

/

Current

positive

⁢

_

⁢

sequence

)

.

5 . The CHEC monitor of claim 1 , wherein the capacity determination component is structured to determine an overall capacity of the electrical power distribution system based on a ratio of averaged current to the rated current, wherein the PF determination component is structured to calculate a system PF as Watts/VA, and wherein the LF determination component is structured to determine an LF as an average VA divided by the maximum or peak VA over a 24-hour period.

6 . The CHEC monitor of claim 1 , wherein the metrics normalizer includes a voltage unbalance index calculator, a current unbalance index calculator, an over voltage index calculator, an under voltage index calculator, a capacity index calculator, a PF index calculator, a maximum LF updater and an LF index calculator.

7 . The CHEC monitor of claim 6 , wherein the voltage unbalance index calculator is structured to calculate:

Voltage Unblance Index=2*V Unbalance %, where 2 is a scale value and V Unbalance % is a percentage of voltage unbalance,

wherein the current unbalance index calculator is structured to calculate:

Current Unblance Index=0.5*I Unbalance %, where 0.5 is a scale value and I Unbalance % is a percentage of current unbalance,

wherein the over voltage index calculator is structured to calculate:

Over Voltage Index=3.3*max(V average −V nominal ,0), where 3.3 is a scale value, V average is an average voltage, and V nominal is a nominal voltage,

wherein the under voltage index calculator is structured to calculate:

Under Voltage Index=0.2*max(V nominal −V average , 0), where 0.2 is a scale value,

wherein the capacity index calculator is structured to calculate:

Capacity Index=3.75*(I average /I rated ), where 3.75 is a scale value, I average is an average current, and I rated is a rated current,

wherein the PF index calculator is structured to calculate:

PF Index=8*(1−PF average ), where 8 is a scale value and PF average is an average PF,

wherein the maximum LF updater is structured to update a 24-hour maximum VA from the latest 96 second periodic intervals, and

wherein the LF index calculator is structured to calculate:

LF Index=9*(1−LF) where LF=VA average /VA peak ), where 9 is a scale value, VA average is an average VA, and VA peak is a maximum or peak VA.

8 . The CHEC monitor of claim 1 , wherein the first periodic interval is a 200 ms interval and the second periodic interval is a 15 minute interval.

9 . The CHEC monitor of claim 1 , wherein the second periodic interval is of a duration in which a transient power quality event is resolved such that a user is not alerted about an already decayed or resolved transient power quality event during the second periodic interval.

10 . The CHEC monitor of claim 1 , wherein the CHEC Index selector is further structured to update the CHEC Index for every second periodic interval.

11 . The CHEC monitor of claim 1 , wherein the CHEC Index indicator provides the latest CHEC index on a display of the CHEC monitor and/or a display of a mobile user device communicatively coupled to the CHEC monitor.

12 . The CHEC monitor of claim 1 , wherein the CHEC Index indicator provides a user an immediate opportunity for optimizing capacities and maximizing efficiencies of circuits within the electrical power distribution system.

13 . A method of monitoring circuit health, efficiency and capacity (CHEC) of an electrical power distribution system including a control panel connected to a 3-phase power source and a plurality of loads, the method comprising:

measuring, by a power parameters measurement component, power parameters of a power bus electrically connected to the control panel;

receiving, by a metrics value calculator, the measured power parameters and calculating, by the metrics value calculator, metric values of a plurality of metrics over first periodic intervals;

obtaining, by a metrics average calculator, an average for each metric value over a second periodic interval;

normalizing, by a metrics normalizer, the average for each metric value and obtaining, by the metrics normalizer, a normalized metric index for each metric;

selecting, by a CHEC Index selector, a maximum metric index from the normalized metrics indexes as a latest CHEC Index; and

providing, by a CHEC Index indicator, the latest CHEC Index,

wherein the metric value calculator comprises a voltage unbalance determination component, a current unbalance determination component, an over-under voltage determination component, a capacity determination component, a power factor (PF) determination component, and a loading factor (LF) determination component,

wherein the over-under voltage determination component is structured to determine that the electrical power distribution system is operating at over voltage based on a determination that voltage applied is above average voltage and that the electrical power distribution system is operating at under voltage based on a determination that voltage applied is below the average voltage.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

applying, by a weight applicator, a weight to each normalized metric index and transmitting, by the weight applicator, the weighted normalized metric index to the CHEC Index selector, wherein the weight is determined by a user.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein measuring, by the power parameters measurement component, power parameters comprises:

obtaining, by a sampler, a plurality of current and voltage samples per cycle;

calculating, by a root-mean-square (RMS) voltage calculator, a per-phase and system RMS voltage;

calculating, by an RMS current calculator, a per-phase and system RMS current;

calculating, by an RMS power calculator, 3-phase real power (Watts) and apparent power (VA);

calculating, by a voltage symmetrical components calculator, positive sequence and negative sequence symmetrical components for voltage; and

calculating, by a current symmetrical components calculator, positive sequence and negative sequence symmetrical components for current.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein calculating, by the metrics value calculator, metric values of a plurality of metrics over first periodic intervals comprises:

calculating, by the voltage unbalance determination component, a percentage of voltage unbalance as:

100

*

(

Voltage

negative

⁢

_

⁢

sequence

/

Voltage

positive

⁢

_

⁢

sequence

)

,

 and

calculating, by the current unbalance determination component, a percentage of current unbalance as:

100

*

(

Current

negative

⁢

_

⁢

sequence

/

Current

positive

⁢

_

⁢

sequence

)

,

determining, by the capacity determination component, an overall capacity of the electrical power distribution system based on a ratio of averaged current to the rated current;

calculating, by the power factor (PF) determination component, a system PF as Watts/VA; and

determining, by the loading factor (LF) determination component, an LF as an average VA divided by the maximum or peak VA over a last 24-hour period.

17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein normalizing, by a metrics normalizer the average for each metric value and obtaining, by the metrics normalizer, a normalized metric index for each metric includes:

calculating, by a voltage unbalance index calculator:

Voltage Unblance Index=2*V Unbalance %, where 2 is a scale value and V Unbalance % is a percentage of voltage unbalance;

calculating, by a current unbalance index calculator:

Current Unblance Index=0.5*I Unbalance %, where 0.5 is a scale value and I Unbalance % is a percentage of current unbalance;

calculating, by an over voltage index calculator:

Over Voltage Index=3.3*max(V average −V nominal , 0), where 3.3 is a scale value, V average is an average voltage, and V nominal is a nominal voltage:

Under Voltage Index=0.2*max(V nominal −V average , 0), where 0.2 is a scale value;

calculating, by a capacity index calculator:

Capacity Index=3.75*(I average /I rated ), where 3.75 is a scale value, I average is an average current, and I rated is a rated current;

calculating, by a PF index calculator:

PF Index=8*(1−PF average ), where 8 is a scale value and PF average is an average PF;

updating, by a maximum LF updater, the 24-hour maximum VA from the latest 96 second periodic intervals, and

calculating, by an LF index calculator:

LF Index=9*(1−LF) where LF=VA average /VA peak ), where 9 is a scale value, VA average is an average VA, and VA peak is a maximum or peak VA.

18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the CHEC Index indicator provides a user an immediate opportunity for optimizing capacities and maximizing efficiencies of circuits within the electrical power distribution system.