Method for power distribution system components identification, characterization and rating

1. A method for operating a power distribution system wherein the power distribution system includes a plurality of components, and at least one node electronics unit coupled to at least one control processing unit, said method comprising:

associating a unique identifier with at least one component class of the power distribution system;

identifying each component based on the identifier;

determining a specification associated with each identifier;

reporting by said node electronics unit, a representation of each respective component specifications to at least one other node electronics unit, and the control processing unit; and

causing the power distribution system to operate at least one of the node electronics unit and the control processing unit based on the determined specification.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1 further comprising operating a centrally controlled power distribution system wherein the at least one control processing unit is a central control processing unit.

3. A method in accordance with claim 2 further comprising operating the centrally controlled power distribution system wherein the component class includes at least one of a circuit breaker, a current transformer, a potential transformer, a busbar, and a protective relay, and wherein each component is communicatively coupled to a respective node electronics unit.

4. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein determining a specification associated with each identifier comprises determining a specification associated with each identifier by the associated node electronics unit, the method further comprising:

operating the power distribution system based on the reported specifications.

5. A method in accordance with claim 4 further comprising locating an identified component operating history in a computer database.

6. A method in accordance with claim 4 further comprising processing power distribution system control functions with the node electronics unit.

7. A method in accordance with claim 4 wherein associating a unique identifier comprises labeling at least one of the components with an identifier wherein the identifier includes at least one of an optically readable identifier, an electronically readable identifier, a magnetically readable identifier, an electro-magnetically readable identifier, and an acoustically readable identifier.

8. A method in accordance with claim 7 further comprises labeling at least one of the components with an identifier that is readable and writable, and wherein the identifier includes at least one of a component history, a present component health, a predicted component health, a calibration parameter, a component characterization, a component rating, an information translation instruction, a component setup instruction, a component operation instruction, and a component location.

9. A method in accordance with claim 8 wherein labeling at least one of the components with an identifier that includes a present component health comprises labeling at least one of the components with a health identifier that includes at least one of electrical stresses, mechanical stresses, thermal stresses, environmental stresses, operational quality metrics.

10. A method in accordance with claim 8 further comprising derating components to operate at a reduced component rating based on the identifier.

11. A method in accordance with claim 10 further comprising:

modifying a component parameter; and

writing the modification to the identifier.

12. A method in accordance with claim 11 further comprising disabling further modification of the component identifier without an authorized intervention.

13. A method in accordance with claim 10 wherein derating comprises modifying a component parameter through a service interface communicatively coupled to at least one of the node electronics units.

14. A method in accordance with claim 13 further comprises authenticating modifications through at least one of an electronic authentication, a mechanical authentication, a electromechanical authentication, an optical authentication, a biological authentication, and a chemical authentication.

15. A method in accordance with claim 10 wherein derating comprises derating a component rating based on a parameter of a component external to the power distribution system.

16. A method in accordance with claim 15 further comprising derating a component based on at least one of a power distribution system component wire size, a power distribution system component power consumption, a power distribution system component heat generation capability, and a power distribution system component current rating.

17. A method in accordance with claim 7 further comprising deducing a physical topology and an electrical topology of the power distribution system based component identifiers and component location.

18. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein reporting a representation of each respective component specifications comprises transmitting a representation of each respective component specifications to the CCPU though the network.

19. A method in accordance with claim 1 further comprising:

determining a characteristic of at least one of the plurality of components;

retrieving a plurality of component characteristics from a computer database; and

matching the determined characteristic to the retrieved characteristic.

20. A method in accordance with claim 19 further comprising measuring component behavior during operation of the power distribution system.

21. A method in accordance with claim 19 wherein determining a characteristic comprises determining at least one of a physical characteristic a chemical characteristic, an electrical characteristic, and a thermal characteristic.

22. A method in accordance with claim 21 wherein determining an electrical characteristic comprises determining at least one of a primary coil voltage of a current transformer with a voltage applied to the secondary coil of the current transformer, a ratio of a primary voltage and a secondary voltage of a current transformer during normal power distribution system operation, a cross sectional area of a circuit breaker conductor, a circuit breaker conductor resistivity, a circuit breaker contact voltage drop, a busbar temperature, and an ejected particle characteristic.

23. A method in accordance with claim 4 further comprising:

exciting a component to facilitate identifying the component;

receiving excitation responses from excited components;

receiving observations from the excited components; and

determining at least one of a physical and electrical topology of the power distribution system based on at least one of the excitation responses and the observations.

24. A method in accordance with claim 23 wherein exciting a component comprises exciting the component from a component external to the power distribution system.

25. A method in accordance with claim 23 wherein exciting a component comprises exciting the component at least one of electrically, magnetically, acoustically, optically, and electro-magnetically.

26. A method in accordance with claim 25 wherein exciting the component electro-magnetically comprises exciting the component using at least one of a power line carrier and a wireless transmission.

27. A method in accordance with claim 23 wherein receiving observations comprises at least one of interfacing with a local database, interfacing with a remote database, a manual visual inspection, and an automated visual inspection.

28. A method in accordance with claim 4 wherein operating at least one of the node electronics units further comprises modifying calibration constants in the node electronics unit based on at least one of a stored component specification and a component response to an excitation.

29. A method in accordance with claim 28 wherein modifying calibration constants in the node electronics unit based on a component response to an excitation comprises modifying calibration constants in the node electronics unit based on a component response to a plurality of excitations.

30. A method in accordance with claim 28 wherein modifying calibration constants in the node electronics unit based on a component response to an excitation comprises modifying calibration constants in the node electronics unit based on a component response to an excitation from a component external to the power distribution system.

31. A method in accordance with claim 4 further comprising:

comparing each component specification to a valid specification based on the component location; and

generating an action response if a component specification is not valid for the component location.

32. A method in accordance with claim 31 wherein generating an action response comprises at least one of logging an invalid specification, reporting an invalid specification, correcting a component specification, replacing a component specification failsafe values, operating the power distribution system in a modified mode, and suspending power distribution system operation.

33. A method for operating a centrally-controlled power distribution system wherein the power distribution system includes a plurality of components communicatively coupled to a respective node electronics unit, and at least one node electronics unit coupled to at least one central control processing unit, said method comprising:

associating a unique identifier with at least one component class of the power distribution system wherein the identifier includes at least one of an optically readable identifier, an electronically readable identifier, a magnetically readable identifier, an electro-magnetically readable identifier, and an acoustically readable identifier;

identifying each component based on the identifier;

determining a specification associated with each identifier;

reporting, by the associated node electronics unit, a representation of each respective component specifications to at least one other node electronics unit, and the at least one central control processing unit;

causing the power distribution system to operate based on the reported specifications; and

causing the cower distribution system to operate at least one of the node electronics unit and the control processing unit based on the determined specification.