Power dissipation monitoring and load management

1. A power dissipation monitoring method, comprising:

receiving a measurement of current flow through an electrical device, the current flowing from a power source through the electrical device to an electrical load;

calculating heat dissipation from the electrical device using the current flow measurement; and

displaying the calculated heat dissipation on a user interface, wherein the heat dissipation is displayed in real-time with acquisition of the current measurement.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein calculating heat dissipation includes squaring the measurement of current flow and multiplying by resistance of the electrical device.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising communicating the calculated heat dissipation to the user interface using an ARIN661 protocol.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the electrical device is an aircraft power bus.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the electrical device is a circuit breaker, a contactor, or a remote electrical device controller by a solid-state power controller.

6. The method as recited in claim 2 , further comprising measuring temperature of the environment surrounding the electrical device.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein displaying includes displaying a circuit breaker indication and control button and real-time power dissipation monitoring button on a user interface.

8. The method as recited in claim 7 , further comprising displaying at least one of (a) real-time heat dissipation as a percentage of maximum allowable, (b) real-time power loss, and (c) local temperature.

9. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein displaying includes displaying heat dissipation from a plurality of electrical devices, wherein the electrical devices are circuit breakers arranged in a power panel or displaying heat dissipation from a plurality of electrical devices, wherein the electrical devices are remote power drive units (RPDUs).

10. The method as recited in claim 9 , further comprising displaying at least one of (a) real-time heat dissipation as a percentage of maximum allowable, (b) real-time power loss, and (c) local temperature.

11. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

comparing the calculated heat dissipation to a heat dissipation threshold;

determining whether the calculated heat dissipation exceeds the heat dissipation threshold; and

executing a load management action when the calculated heat dissipation exceeds the heat dissipation threshold.

12. The method as recited in claim 11 , further comprising communicating the load management action to the user interface.

13. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising calculating temperature of the electrical device using the current measurement.

14. A power dissipation monitoring system, comprising:

a display;

a processor operably connected to the display;

non-transitory machine-readable medium in communication with the processor and having instructions recorded on it that, when read by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive a measurement of current flow through an electrical device, the current flowing from a power source through the electrical device to an electrical load;

calculate heat dissipation from the electrical device using the current flow measurement; and

display the calculated heat dissipation on a user interface, wherein the heat dissipation is displayed in real-time with the current measurement.

15. The system as recited in claim 14 , further comprising a current sensor disposed in communication with the processor, the current sensor providing the measurement of current flow.

16. The system as recited in claim 15 , wherein the current sensor is coupled to the electrical device and the electrical device is a circuit breaker or contactor in an aircraft power panel or a remote solid-state power controller arranged on an aircraft.

17. The system as recited in claim 14 , further comprising a temperature sensor disposed in communication with the processor.

18. The system as recited in claim 14 , further comprising a user interface disposed in communication with the processor.

19. The system as recited in claim 14 , wherein the instructions recorded on the memory further cause the processor to:

comparing the calculated heat dissipation to a heat dissipation threshold;

determining whether the calculated heat dissipation exceeds the heat dissipation;

executing a load management action when the calculated heat dissipation exceeds the heat dissipation threshold; and

calculating temperature of the electrical device using the current measurement.

20. An electrical load management system, comprising:

a power dissipation monitoring system as recited in claim 14 , wherein the instructions recorded on the memory further cause the processor to:

compare the calculated heat dissipation to a heat dissipation threshold;

determine whether the calculated heat dissipation exceeds the heat dissipation threshold; and

execute a load management action when the calculated heat dissipation exceeds the heat dissipation threshold.