D400-DA - Legacy

Manufacturing for this product has been discontinued. Please contact us to discuss alternatives

The D400-DA is a substation based Fault Detection, Isolation, and Restoration system, designed for improving the reliability of distribution utility networks. With the ability to monitor and control reclosers and switches, the D400-DA can restore unfaulted sections of network thereby improving utility reliability indices and customer satisfaction.

Key Benefits

  • Cost-effective deployment of FDIR feeder reliability improvements on distribution networks
  • Reduces the length and magnitude of customer outages, reducing SAIDI and SAIFI
     
  • Utilizes information from multiple feeders eliminating unnecessary switching due to faults
     
  • Localized communications and decision making allows for feeder restoration even when wide area communications is lost
 
  • Identifies switching capacity based on real time and historical loading levels fully utilizing available capacity
  • Easy to expand system size without reconfiguring settings in field deployed controllers
  • Completely isolates faults if downstream switches are available, preventing feeding faults from distributed generators
  • Increased Security through an embedded OS not subject to windows based security patches

Applications

  • Substation based circuit reconfiguration for reliability improvements
  • Looped feeders where the load to be restored is fed from only one source
 
  • Multi-ended feeders where the load to be restored needs to be fed and shared by multiple sources
  • Reliability optimization of up to 20 feeders utilizing up to 100 reclosers, switches and breakers

D400-DA - Legacy

Manufacturing for this product has been discontinued. Please contact us to discuss alternatives

The D400-DA is a substation based Fault Detection, Isolation, and Restoration system, designed for improving the reliability of distribution utility networks. With the ability to monitor and control reclosers and switches, the D400-DA can restore unfaulted sections of network thereby improving utility reliability indices and customer satisfaction.

Key Benefits

  • Cost-effective deployment of FDIR feeder reliability improvements on distribution networks
  • Reduces the length and magnitude of customer outages, reducing SAIDI and SAIFI
     
  • Utilizes information from multiple feeders eliminating unnecessary switching due to faults
     
  • Localized communications and decision making allows for feeder restoration even when wide area communications is lost
 
  • Identifies switching capacity based on real time and historical loading levels fully utilizing available capacity
  • Easy to expand system size without reconfiguring settings in field deployed controllers
  • Completely isolates faults if downstream switches are available, preventing feeding faults from distributed generators
  • Increased Security through an embedded OS not subject to windows based security patches

Applications

  • Substation based circuit reconfiguration for reliability improvements
  • Looped feeders where the load to be restored is fed from only one source
 
  • Multi-ended feeders where the load to be restored needs to be fed and shared by multiple sources
  • Reliability optimization of up to 20 feeders utilizing up to 100 reclosers, switches and breakers

 Key Features 
 
  • Automatic control and operator assisted reconfiguration
    modes of operation
  • Integrates control into SCADA or DMS systems, or operates
    as a completely stand alone solution
  • Email notification to operations and field crew notifying of:
     - Fault location
     - Reconfiguration actions taken
     - KW of customers still without power
  • Supports advanced D400-DA Gateway functionality for integrating substation and distribution field equipment
     
  • Equipment Monitored & Controlled
     - Breakers and protection relays
     - Reclosers and recloser controllers
     - Switches and switch controllers
     - Fault circuit Indicators
  • Communications Protocols
     - Protocols to distribution controllers
     - Modbus RTU
     - Modbus TCP/IP
     - DNP 3.0 RTU
     - DNP 3.0 TCP/IP
     - IEC60870-5-104
     
  • Advanced Gateway Capability
     - Data collection, concentration, visibility and media
       conversion
     - Advanced automation utilizing IEC611331 
       configuration toolsets
     - Logging and archiving of device Fault Records &
       Event Records
     - Provides secure access to substation intelligent
       controllers
Substation Based FDIR/FLISR

 

Substation Based FDIR/FLISR - Fault Detection, Isolation & Restoration


Reliability Challenges

When faults occur on the distribution network, utility protection and control schemes normally shut down power on the feeder thus disrupting service to many customers. The size of area affected by the outage will directly translate into the number of consumers inconvenienced and some degree of economic loss. 

Many distribution utilities are measured as to how well they are serving their customers and may be subjected to regulatory penalties if the regulators feel their performance is not as good as it should be. There are several different measurement indices that are used to gauge utility reliability effectiveness including: 

  • CML - Measurements indicating number of Customer Minutes Lost per average 100 customers
     
  • CI - Measurements indicating total number Customer Interruptions per average 100 customers 
     
  • SAIDI - The System Average Interruption Frequency Index measuring the average number of minutes of interruptions that a customer would experience
  • SAIFI - The System Average Interruption Frequency Index measuring the average number of interruptions that a customer would experience
     
  • CAIDI - The Customer Average Interruption Duration Index measures the average outage duration that any given customer would experience

What FDIR Can Provide

Fault Detection, Isolation and Restoration (FDIR) schemes, also known as Fault Location Isolation and Supply Restoration
(FLISR) or Circuit Reconfiguration Schemes, will greatly enhance distribution grid reliability by quickly restoring power to as many customers as possible. By quickly isolating faults and rerouting power from alternate sources to customers on
healthy parts of the network, utilities can greatly reduce the number of customers affected by outages thus reducing their measurement indices and any penalties that may be associated with them.
 

Methods of Performing FDIR

Centralized Schemes
Utilizes a system wide Distribution Management Systems (DMS) that analyzes the entire network to identify the best way to reconfigure the feeders to restore power after a fault.

Decentralized or Substation Based Schemes
Analyze smaller sections of the network and does not require information about the larger distribution network to reconfigure local sections of the grid that are experiencing outages due to faults.

 

High Degree of Reliability

Through implementing a D400-DA substation based FDIR scheme, communications needed for monitoring or reconfiguring the network only need to extend from the field recloser and switch controllers to the substation where the D400-DA is located. While communications can be sent back to a Control Center for SCADA management, the complete reconfiguration of the network can be done without a backhaul communications infrastructure. When large scale events occur that can cause multiple utility wide problems, the D400-DA substation based FDIR solution will continue to operate and reconfigure the network even if backhaul communications are lost.
 

 

Looped and Multi-Ended Circuits


Looped and Multi-Ended Circuits
The D400-DA substation based FDIR solution can automate both Looped and Multi-Ended feeder network configurations. The D400-DA can typically restore power to unfaulted sections less than 1 minute after a fault occurs, fast enough to prevent the outage affecting SAIDI and SAIFI indices.

 

Scalable, Cost-Effective Solution

This D400-DA solution provides a scalable solution for automating from as few as two and as many as twenty circuits or feeders with a single D400-DA. With this scalability, utilities have a cost effective solution that can be incrementally rolled out feeder by feeder or just installed on circuits that are causing the most reliability problems. One D400-DA can automate these twenty circuits whether or not they are emanating from one substation or from multiple substations, as long as the D400-DA can communicate to the controllers in the field.

Feeder Sectors
Each D400-DA can monitor and automate up to twenty feeder sectors. Each sector is defined as a feeder that begins at a breaker and ends at a normally open tie point. The D400-DA that is monitoring a particular sector will be responsible for isolating that sector in the event a fault has occurred on it. This same D400-DA will also be responsible for controlling the tie switches to other sectors in the event that more load will be added to it to restore adjoining dead sectors.

Devices Controlled
Each D400-DA can communicate with and control up to 100 devices found within the sectors it is monitoring. Devices interfaced with it may include protection relays, recloser controllers, switch controllers and fault circuit indicators.
 

Modes of Operation

The D400-DA has two main modes of operation for isolating and reconfiguring distribution networks: Automatic Reconfiguration and Operator Assisted Reconfiguration. 

Automatic Reconfiguration – In Automatic Reconfiguration mode, the D400-DA will identify outages on its monitored sectors and take action to restore power to the maximum number of customers as possible. It performs the actions without any interaction required from system operators. 

Operator Assisted Reconfiguration – In Operator Assisted Reconfiguration mode, the D400-DA will require confirmation that system operators agree with the recommended action before these actions are carried out. This mode of operation is often used by utilities for an initial trial period of time to have their operators get comfortable with the D400-DA recommendation before going into full Automatic Reconfiguration mode. 

Reconfiguration Triggers
While the D400-DA is monitoring its feeders, there are several sequences that will initiate a reconfiguration action: 
– Protection Lockout: The operation of a protection function on a protection relay or recloser controller 
– Loss of Voltage: The voltage on a sector has dropped below the programmed voltage threshold for an extended period of time defined by the utility
– Loss of Voltage After Fault: An intermediate loss of voltage after a downstream overcurrent detection

 

Network Topology Modeling and Sector Definition

Network topology screen
The D400-DA system configuration software is an easy-to-use online tool that allows for system modeling and FDIR sector configuration. When being used in Operator Assisted Mode, this tool can be the operator interface for acknowledging or rejecting reconfiguration scenarios proposed by the D400-DA FDIR system.

Isolation

When a reconfiguration action has been triggered, the first course of action the D400-DA will take is to isolate any faulted sections on the line. Isolation actions will attempt to minimize the number of customers falling within an isolated section. When the D400-DA is in Operator Assisted Mode, it will give a recommendation to the operators on the best course of action to take to isolate the fault. If the operator does not agree with the recommended action, the D400-DA will calculate the next optimal scenario and propose that to the
operators.

Isolation on Sectors with Distributed Generation
When a fault occurs on a sector of the line, the D400-DA will open all of the available switches to completely isolate the fault. On radial feeders or laterals, if additional switches are located downstream of the fault, the D400-DA will also open those switches to prevent any other sources such as distributed generation that may back-feed the fault.

 

Restoration

Once the D400-DA has ensured any faults are isolated, it will attempt reconfigure the network to restore power to as many customers as possible. When operating in Operator Assisted Mode, the D400-DA will first ask for confirmation from the operator before taking any action. If the operator does not agree with the recommended action, the D400-DA will calculate the next optimal scenario and propose that to the operator. 

Historical Load Modeling
To ensure that the source being used to re-energize a sector of the feeder can support the additional load, the D400-DA calculates the short term power requirements based on a 15 minute sliding peak demand window with 1 minute resolution. The D400-DA also identifies the long term load requirements using a 30 days sliding window with a 1 day resolution and a 15 minute averaging period. 

Dead Line Verification
Before reconfiguring the network, the D400-DA will verify that the voltage on the dead sector has dropped below configurable thresholds to ensure that the line is still not energized due to any residual distributed generation sources. 

Alternate Protection Groups
Before reenergizing a line, the D400-DA will alter the setting groups on any recloser or switch controllers on the line so that the protection functions will be coordinated for the new loads and direction of power flow.

 

E-mail Notification


When an FDIR action is triggered by the D400-DA (either an isolation or reconfiguration event) an email can be sent to multiple parties giving notification of the action that occurred. Using this email, both operators and field crews can immediately be notified that a fault occurred and actions were taken to re-energize as many parts of the network as possible

Advanced Gateway
The D400-DA collects data from substation protection, control, monitoring, RTU, and intelligent devices, pre-processes the data and moves it up to EMS and DMS SCADA systems providing centralized substation management.
Advanced Automation
The D400-DA provides the computing platform necessary to automate substation procedures, such that intricate processes are carried out safely and efficiently by creating custom automation programs using IEC 61131 compliant tools, and perform basic math functions on data points using the built-in Calculator tool.
Fault recording/data logging
Using pass-through connections, users can extract valuable non-operational data such as digital fault recording (DFR) records and event files. The user can also access the historical log files and upload the archived data for trending and analysis.
Secure remote access
The D400-DA allows maintenance and relay engineers to securely access substation devices, locally or remotely, through advanced visualizations and communication tools, increasing productivity.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D400 Overview

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hardware
The D400-DA is built on a flexible, high performance, expandable disk-less and fan-less platform that is powered by a 1.0Ghz processor. 
Two Ethernet networks are supported with separate multiport switches. An IRIG-B format time protocol input/distribution module is also supported. Isolated serial port media is selected for each pair of ports.

Redundant Power Supplies
The D400-DA has dual redundant, hot swappable power supplies, ensuring continuous uptime. Each power supply can be connected to a different source. As an example Power supply 1 can be connected to Mains, while power supply 2 is connected to the battery system. Power Supply Health Monitoring raises a SCADA point alarm when either power supply fails. This allows an alarm to be transmitted to the EMS /OMS or DMS system, where a field personnel can be dispatched to replace the failed supply, all without service disruption. 

Time Sync Support
The D400-DA has extensive support for various time sync methodologies and will accept time sync signals from SNTP/NTP Servers, IRIG-B (un-modulated/modulated), and SCADA protocols. The D400-DA can also distribute this time sync information through its built-in IRIG-B distribution interface, SCADA protocols, and/or through the RS232 ports directly. 

 
Redundant Power Supplies

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