S&c Electric Company

Mangosoft Corporation

Omnion Power Engineering Corp.

Eaton Corporation

F5 Networks, Inc.

Mangosoft Intellectual Property, Inc.

David G Porter

Stephen E Williams

Martin T Bishop

Daniel J Dietterich

Joseph W Milton

Scott H Davis

Thomas J Dyer

Robert S Phillips

Michael Meisinger

Andrew B Berman

Steven J Frank

John B Carter

Peter J Meyer

Scott Nyman

John F Meyer

Lauren Abramczyk

Peter J Theisen

Peter F Meyer

William Abraham

Alejandro Montenegro

Robert Elliott

Chin-Cheng Wu

Donald S Berkowitz

Michael Quinlan

Todd W Klippel

Jc Ferguson

Kenneth A Forsell

Nicholas Seng

James W Sember

Daniel Desmond

John French

Michael A Berger

Michael J Homberg

Thomas J Teixeira

Benjamin E McCann

Konstantin Lakirovich

Jonathan C Nicklin

Hsin H Lee

Albert C Snowdon

Christine Elizabeth McNeil

Bryan T Whitmore

Thomas Walker

Thomas S Kelley

John Woods

Emil W Zarling

Craig S Rasmussen

Daniel H Zietlow

Dale R Stefanac

Roger H Troyer

Leonard F Wisniewski

Michael J Soha

Suchi Raman

Robert T Curley

Terrence Bellei

Thomas G Hansen

Peter Slusarczyk

Thomas Dyer

Joseph Milton

Jason Stewart

Nigel Harper

Preston Buff

Laurie Chappelet

Walter Turner

Sjon-Paul Conyer

A system and method for point on wave closing of a switching device, where the close initiation point is selected so that a minor current loop is generated that minimizes the accumulated current during the closing operation. The method includes determining bounce characteristic of contacts in the switching device during the closing operation, identifying available close initiation points on a voltage wave for a voltage across the contacts, selecting one or two of the close initiation points on the voltage wave that minimizes the accumulation of current during the closing operation, and closing the switching device using the selected close initiation point.

System and method for point on wave closing of a vacuum interrupter

A system and method for determining a squelch level for each transformer in a series of transformers connected to a power line that communicate with each other through PLC. The method includes selectively transmitting a PLC test message by each transformer on the power line both upstream and downstream of the transmitting transformer to determine that the transmitting transformer can communicate with other transformers; responding to the PLC test message that is received by each transformer to identify the transformers that can communicate with the transmitting transformer; measuring the RSSI of the PLC messages that each transformer receives; recording the strongest RSSI in each transformer of the PLC messages that are received by the transformer; and setting the squelch level for each transformer as a predetermined reduction of the recorded RSSI in each transformer.

Auto squelch on powerline communications (PLC)

A support bracket assembly for supporting a pair of bushing well interrupter devices provided within a transformer enclosure that encloses a transformer. The support bracket assembly includes a mounting bracket assembly rigidly secured to a parking stand on the enclosure and including a plurality of mounting bosses. The support bracket assembly further includes support brackets, a first adjustable link secured to one of the mounting bosses on the mounting assembly and a mounting boss on a support bracket, a second adjustable link secured to another one of the mounting bosses on the mounting assembly and a mounting bosses on a support bracket, and a third adjustable link secured to mounting bosses on two support bracket, where the first, second and third adjustable links form a triangular configuration.

Support bracket for transformer switch utilizing existing transformer connection points

A system and method for calibrating a capacitor voltage sensor that measures voltage on a power line coupled through a switch to a primary coil of a transformer. The method includes measuring a control voltage on a secondary coil of the transformer and measuring voltage on the capacitor sensor when the switch is known to be closed. The method identifies a calibration factor that when multiplied by the measured voltage on the capacitor sensor when the switch is closed makes the measured voltage on the capacitor sensor substantially equal to the control voltage. The method subsequently measures voltage on the capacitor sensor when the switch is open or closed during operation of the transformer, and multiplies the subsequently measured voltage on the capacitor sensor when the switch is open or closed by the calibration factor to obtain a measured voltage.

System voltage calibration

A power restoration system comprising a feeder, a plurality of power sources available to provide power to the feeder, a plurality of normally closed reclosing devices electrically coupled along the feeder, at least one normally open recloser electrically coupled to the feeder, and a plurality of normally closed switches electrically coupled along the feeder between each adjacent pairs of normally closed reclosing devices. Each switch is assigned a position code having a value for each of the plurality of power sources that determines when the switch will open in response to the fault current and which power source the switch is currently receiving power from, where timing control between the reclosing devices and the switches allows the switch to be selectively opened to isolate the fault within a single feeder section between each pair of adjacent switches or between each switch and a reclosing device.

Utility distribution fault restoration system

A method for performing a low energy pulse testing in a power distribution network that causes contacts to close and then open in about one fundamental frequency cycle of current flow time and close on a voltage waveform that produces symmetrical fault current. The method includes energizing a magnetic actuator to move the actuator against the bias of a spring to move a movable contact towards a fixed contact. The method also includes de-energizing the actuator when the movable contact makes contact with the fixed contact so as to allow the spring to move the movable contact away from the fixed contact so that the amount of time that the current conducts is about one fundamental frequency cycle of the current, where energizing the magnetic actuator occurs when an applied voltage on the switch assembly is at a peak of the voltage wave so that the current is symmetric.

Low energy reclosing pulse test

A switch assembly that is part of a transformer in an underground residential power distribution circuit and that provides fault isolation and restoration. The switch assembly includes first and second switching devices each having an outer housing, a transformer interface electrically coupled to the transformer, a connector interface electrically coupled to a first connector and a first vacuum interrupter having a fixed contact and a movable contact, where the fixed contact is electrically coupled to the connector interface and the movable contact is electrically coupled to the transformer interface. A control board controls the first and second switching devices, where the control board is responsive to voltage signals from capacitors in the first and second switching devices.

Loop restoration switching device assembly including multiple switches with common control

A control system and method for sectionalizing switches and pulse-testing interrupter/reclosers in a distribution grid feeder which enables fault location, isolation and service restoration without requiring an external communications infrastructure to pass information between the switches. The method includes switches entering an armed state when they experience a high fault current during an initial fault event. Then, when the interrupter/recloser runs its test pulse sequence, any armed switch counts all test pulses as fault pulses, while non-armed switches count the test pulses as load pulses. Switches open to isolate the fault based on threshold values of fault pulse count and load pulse count. When an initially active interrupter/recloser completes its test pulse sequence, another interrupter/recloser begins its sequence, and all switches reconfigure their threshold values based on the new interrupter/recloser. Interrupter/reclosers after the initial device use a fast close-open event if necessary to arm some switches for proper fault-count opening.

Locating and isolating grid faults utilizing a fast close-open operation

An energy storage system comprising a main bus, a transfer bus, and a pair of anti-parallel thyristors electrically coupled to the main bus and the transfer bus. The system also includes a first and second group of battery cells electrically coupled to the main bus and the transfer bus, and a switching network including a plurality of switches that selectively connect the first and second groups of battery cells to the main bus and the transfer bus. A controller controls the position of the switches and a bias voltage applied to the first and second thyristors so as to seamlessly transition power from the first group of battery cells to the second group of battery cells when the group of battery cells are being discharged and seamlessly transition power between the first group of battery cells and the second group of battery cells when the battery cells are being charged.

System and method for closed-transition transfer of DC battery banks on a grid scale battery energy storage system

This patent describes embodiments of systems, apparatus and methods to provide improved control and coordination of a multiplicity of electric distribution grid-connected, energy storage units deployed over a geographically-dispersed area.

Distributed energy storage system and method of distributing energy

A method for detecting a voltage disturbance in a utility having a micro-grid. The method transforms current and voltage measurements into first and second voltage values and first and second current values in a stationary reference frame, and transforms the first and second voltage values and the first and second current values to third and fourth voltage values and third and fourth current values in a rotating reference frame, where the third voltage value defines an average magnitude of the three-phase power signals. The method multiplies the third current value by the third voltage value to obtain an instantaneous power value and multiplies the fourth current value by the third voltage value to obtain an instantaneous volt-ampere reactive (VAR) value. The method opens the switch if the VAR value has a magnitude above a predetermined value and a direction indicating the fault is outside of the micro-grid in the network.

Method to detect utility disturbance and fault direction

A method for detecting a voltage disturbance on an electrical line coupled to a utility that provides three-phase electrical AC power signals to a critical load that includes a transformer. The method includes reading instantaneous voltage measurements at a high sample rate of each of the three-phase power signals, and calculating a flux in the transformer at the sample rate for each of three-phase power signals by adding the instantaneous voltage measurements at the current sample point and at a previous sample point. The method includes calculating a flux error for each of the three-phase signals at the sample rate as a difference between the newly calculated flux and the oldest calculated flux. The method determines whether the flux error for any of the three-phase power signals is greater than a first predetermined percentage or less than a second predetermined percentage, and if so, identifies a voltage disturbance.

Flux based utility disturbance detector

A method for detecting a voltage disturbance on an electrical line coupled to a utility that includes calculating a sliding window actual root mean squared (RMS) voltage for each three-phase power signal, calculating a sliding window filtered RMS average voltage for each actual RMS voltage to identify normal changes in the voltage of the power signals from a nominal voltage, and obtaining a difference between the actual RMS voltage and the RMS average voltage for each of the power signals. The method determines whether the difference between the actual RMS voltage and the RMS average voltage for any of the three-phase signals is greater than a first predetermined percentage, or whether the difference between the actual RMS voltage and the RMS average voltage for any of the three-phase signals is less than a second predetermined percentage, and if so, disconnects a load from the utility.

Enhanced utility disturbance monitor

Growing community of inventors

East Troy, WI, United States of America

David G Porter