US-20260126499-A1 - METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY CORRECTING POWER QUALITY SENSOR CONNECTIONS

US20260126499A1US 20260126499 A1US20260126499 A1US 20260126499A1US-20260126499-A1

Abstract

A process in device may include measuring an electrical parameter of a monitored element through at least one connection with at least one transducer, determining whether the at least one connection to the monitored element is correct based on the electrical parameter with at least one processor, and outputting an error and potential fixes when the at least one connection to the monitored element is not correct with the at least one processor, and/or correcting electrical parameter data when the at least one connection to the monitored element is not correct with the at least one processor. The electrical parameter may include at least one of the following: voltage, current, phase, and/or polarity. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computer storage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the methods.

Inventors

David Horning
Christopher Fisher Mullins

Assignees

POWER MONITORS, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251103

Claims (20)

1 . A process for implementing an apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis comprising: measuring an electrical parameter of a monitored element through at least one connection with at least one transducer; determining whether the at least one connection to the monitored element is correct based on the electrical parameter with at least one processor; outputting an error and potential fixes when the at least one connection to the monitored element is not correct with the at least one processor; and/or correcting electrical parameter data when the at least one connection to the monitored element is not correct with the at least one processor, wherein the electrical parameter comprises at least one of the following: voltage, current, phase, and/or polarity.
2 . The process for implementing apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 1 , further comprising implementing an analog to digital sampling system, wherein the at least one transducer comprises at least one of the following: a voltage transducer and/or a current transducer.
3 . The process for implementing apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 1 , further comprising implementing a digital signal processor configured for data collection, pre-processing, and analytic operations.
4 . The process for implementing apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 1 , further comprising: implementing a digital signal processor configured for data collection, pre-processing, and analytic operations; and implementing a second processor configured for data buffering and communication.
5 . The process for implementing apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured for data collection, pre-processing, analytic operations, data buffering, and communication.
6 . The process for implementing apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 1 , further comprising implementing a data concentrator.
7 . The process for implementing apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 6 , wherein the data concentrator is configured to send the electrical parameter data through a network to a data lake or cloud-based analytics system.
8 . The process for implementing apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 6 , wherein the data concentrator is configured to accumulate data locally in a compressed format; and wherein the data concentrator is configured to periodically transfer the data to a removable storage device if the data concentrator is not connected to a network.
9 . The process for implementing apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 6 , wherein the data concentrator is configured to receive raw waveform and other data from one or more data collection units; wherein the data concentrator is configured to provide timestamps; wherein the data concentrator is configured to compress the electrical parameter data in a format suitable for storage; and wherein the data concentrator is configured to store the electrical parameter data in an organized fashion for later retrieval.
10 . The process for implementing apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 6 , wherein the data concentrator is configured to process data blocks from one or more data collection units for implementation in one of the following: a machine learning system and/or an artificial intelligence system.
11 . The process for implementing apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 1 , further comprising implementing one or more data collection units, wherein the one or more data collection units are further configured to collect the electrical parameter data from the monitored element that comprises at least one of the following: information associated with the monitored element, data associated with the monitored element, and measurements associated with the monitored element.
12 . The process for implementing apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured and/or operable to detect an increase in phase angle difference; wherein the at least one processor is configured and/or operable to simulate an effect of inverting a current transformer, swapping current transformer channels, or rolling all three current transformers by adding or subtracting 180 or 120 degrees appropriately; and wherein the at least one processor is configured and/or operable to determine a combination with a lowest total phase angle difference is a “correct” hookup and generate a correct fix to apply.
13 . The process for implementing apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 1 , wherein the monitored element comprises at least one of the following: an electrical substation, a solar farm, a wind farm, a Distributed Energy Resource (DER), a portion of a utility transmission infrastructure, a portion of a utility generation infrastructure, one or more circuits, one or more machines, and/or one or more components.
14 . An apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis comprising: at least one transducer configured to measure an electrical parameter of a monitored element through at least one connection; at least one processor configured and/or operable to determine whether the at least one connection to the monitored element is correct based on the electrical parameter; the at least one processor configured and/or operable to output an error and potential fixes when the at least one connection to the monitored element is not correct; and/or the at least one processor configured and/or operable to correct data when the at least one connection to the monitored element is not correct, wherein the electrical parameter comprises at least one of the following: voltage, current, phase, and/or polarity.
15 . The apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 14 , further comprising an analog to digital sampling system, wherein the at least one transducer comprises at least one of the following: a voltage transducer and/or a current transducer.
16 . The apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 14 , further comprising a digital signal processor configured for data collection, pre-processing, and analytic operations.
17 . The apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 14 , further comprising: a digital signal processor configured for data collection, pre-processing, and analytic operations; and a second processor configured for data buffering and communication.
18 . The apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 14 , wherein the at least one processor is configured for data collection, pre-processing, analytic operations, data buffering, and communication.
19 . The apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 14 , further comprising a data concentrator.
20 . The apparatus for electric power data collection and analysis of claim 19 , wherein the data concentrator is configured to send the electrical parameter data through a network to a data lake or cloud-based analytics system.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit from U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/715,182 filed on Nov. 1, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure relates to a method for automatically correcting power quality sensor connections. The disclosure further relates to a system for automatically correcting power quality sensor connections. The disclosure relates to a method for automatically detecting power quality sensor connections. The disclosure further relates to a system for automatically detecting power quality sensor connections. BACKGROUND Power quality sensors and recorders are essential tools for electric utilities to diagnose and track voltage quality and electrical problems within their own network and for their customers. To make valid power quality measurements, proper connection of the device is essential. Common metrics such as real and reactive power, power factor, etc. rely on the correct polarity and phasing of voltage and current probes. Analysis of voltage sag, direction, classification, transients, and/or the like also depend on the correct polarity and matching of voltage and current phases for all device inputs. Consequently, correct device hookup by the field technician is essential for a power quality analysis. In many cases the only practical monitoring point is inside an existing enclosure such as a revenue meter base, Current Transformer (CT) cabinet, capacitor controller, etc., which contains the necessary voltage and current signals. In these situations, wiring can be confusing with unlabeled or mismarked conductors, and no clear indication of phasing in a polyphase system. Correct CT polarity can be difficult to determine when connecting a PQ recorder to metering CTs, and voltage phasing may not be clear when connecting to existing PTs (potential transformers). Further, field technicians commonly make installation mistakes when sent to the field by engineers, where the engineer must rely on the technician to interpret the situation on their own. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE The foregoing needs are met, to a great extent, by the disclosure. In one general aspect, a process may include measuring an electrical parameter of a monitored element through at least one connection with at least one transducer. The process may also include determining whether the at least one connection to the monitored element is correct based on the electrical parameter with at least one processor. The process may furthermore include outputting an error and potential fixes when the at least one connection to the monitored element is not correct with the at least one processor; and/or correcting electrical parameter data when the at least one connection to the monitored element is not correct with the at least one processor. The process may in addition include where the electrical parameter may include at least one of the following: voltage, current, phase, and/or polarity. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computer storage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the methods. In one general aspect, an apparatus may include at least one transducer configured to measure an electrical parameter of a monitored element through at least one connection. The apparatus may also include at least one processor configured and/or operable to determine whether the at least one connection to the monitored element is correct based on the electrical parameter. The apparatus may furthermore include the at least one processor configured and/or operable to output an error and potential fixes when the at least one connection to the monitored element is not correct; and /r the at least one processor configured and/or operable to correct data when the at least one connection to the monitored element is not correct. The apparatus may in addition include where the electrical parameter may include at least one of the following: voltage, current, phase, and/or polarity. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computer storage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the methods. The disclosure below solves these problems with a mechanism, system, and/or process to automatically identify common hookup errors, and optionally have the device correct for them in the device operation, before power quality metrics and recorded data is derived from them. A method for automatically identifying and/or correcting common power quality recorder hookup mistakes is described here. The disclosure may include an algorithm for detecting hookup problems and/or automatically correcting for these at a low level in the device operation, such that all downstream operations on the data are unaffected by the origin