AN APPLICATION OF PLC :

EMOTE DETECTION OF LEGAL ELECTRICITY USAGE

SUBMITTED BY: AKANKSHA SHARMA ROLL NO: 1005220002 Submitted to the Department of ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Bachelor of Technology In ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY G.B. Technical University [2012-2013]

STUDENT SEMINAR GUIDE: AKANKSHA PROF.BHARTI DWIVEDI

NAME: SHARMA

CONTENTS

1 .CERTIFICATE 2 . ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3. ABSTRACT 4. INTRODUCTION 5. POWER LINE COMMUNICATION 6. AMR-AN IMPORTANT APPLICATION OF POWER LINE COMMUNICATION 7. AUTOMATIC METER READING SETUP 8. METHOD OF ILLEGAL ELECTRICITY USAGE 9. DETECTION AND CONTROL SYSTEM 10. WORKING OF THE SYSTEM

2 3 4 5 6

7-9 10 11 12-13 14-15

11. SYSTEM SIMULATION AND MODELLING OF THE DETECTION 16-17 SYSTEM OF ILLEGAL ELECTRICITY USAGE FOR ELECTROMECHANICAL KILOWATTHOUR METERS 12. AN OVERVIEW OF THE DETECTOR SYSTEM 13 .ADVANTAGES OF AMR 14 .SYSTEM LIMITATIONS 15. CONCLUSION 16 .REFERENCE 18 19 20 21 22

CERTIFICATE

This to certify that Miss AKANKSHA SHARMA prepared this B.Tech seminar report titled AN APPLICATION OF PLC REMOTE DETECTION OF ILLEGAL USAGE OF ELECTRICITY under the esteemed guidance of PROF.BHARI DWIVEDI. This seminar report is submitted to the department of Electrical Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering.

SEMINAR GUIDE NAME: PROF. BHARTI DWIVEDI

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT PROF. BHARTI DWIVEDI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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I am thankful to Prof. BHARTI DWIVEDI, Head of the Department for providing me with the facilities for the seminar. I would also express my sincere gratitude to Mr. BHEEM SONKAR for his guidance and cooperation for preparing and presenting the seminar. Above all I thank all the faculties of the EEE Department and my friends for their moral support and encouragement.

ABSTRACT
Power Line Communication (PLC) presents an interesting and economical solution for automatic meter reading (AMR).If an AMR system via PLC is set in a power delivery system, a detection system for illegal electricity usage may be easily added in the existing PLC network. In the detection system, the second digitally energy meter chip is used and the value of energy is stored. The recorded energy is compared with the value at the main kilowatt-hour meter. In the case of difference between two recorded energy data, in error signal is generated and transmitted via PLC network. The detector and control system is proposed. The architecture of the system and their critical components are given. This report describes a prototype of the detector system for illegal electricity usage using the power lines.

INTRODUCTION

The automatic meter reading (AMR) system has become a necessity for most suppliers as deregulation, free customer choice and open market competition occur in the energy supply sector. Power line communication has many new service possibilities on the data transferring via power lines without use extra cables. AMR is a very important application in these possibilities due to every user connected each other via modems using power lines. AMR is a technique to facilitate remote readings energy consumption. Improving the electrical power supply to households is a big issue. There is a increase in distribution rate of electrical power supply, which is now around 70% to 80% to 100%. Power companies are plagued by power theft. PLC will play an important role in placing antitheft power system. Illegal electricity may be a serious problem in many countries .This problem has been attempted to be resolved by special skills of humans, such as the police special security etc. These method could not give optimum solution due to their impracticalities. Meter reading has been applied by humans and some electronics solutions such as optical reading methods, creditable utilization of electrical energy etc. Many chips which can be used for digital energy metering and PLC modems. The problem of illegal usage of electricity must be solved electronically, without any human control.

POWER LINE COMMUNICATION

Power Line Communication is a mode of data transmission over the same line that delivers electricity. This mode of communication uses power conductors transmitting ac power across electrical distribution system. Power Line Communication Systems operate by injecting the high frequency carrier signal in the power line. Message signal is modulated over this high frequency carrier signal which is then transmitted over long distances. Normally used modulation schemes for power line communication are orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(OFDM) ,binary phase shift keying(BSK), frequency phase shift keying(FSK). In this system a sender modulates the data and injects it in the power conductors and a receivers demodulates the data at receiving end.

Major advantage of power line communication is that no external network has to be established in order to transmit signals as this technology uses electrical network .Its has wide range of applications ranging from power system automation to internet access.

AUTOMATIC METER READING (A.M.R) AN IMPORTANT APPLICATION OF POWER LINE COMMUNICATION

AMR (AUTOMATIC REMOTE READING) automates the process of measurement through digital communication techniques. AMR system is technology that automatically collects data from remotely located metering devices and transmits it to a base station where the received data can be analyzed. This system can collect data such as amount of consumption and status and sent to a central base station for billing, troubleshooting and analyzing. Data is sent to the central station via power conductors in case of electrical metering. MAIN COMPONENTS OF AMR SYATEM 1. Meter Interface Module 2. Communication system 3. Central Office Equipment

1.METER INTERFACE MODULE

Meter Interface Module contains an electric meter or watt hour meter that measures the amount of energy consumed in kilowatt hours. These can be of electrical type or electronic type. The most common type of electric meter is essentially an electric induction motor that drives a series of geared wheels connected to indicators on the meter's face. This type of meter is designed for use with alternating current. It contains two electromagnets and a metal disk that is free to rotate between them. One electromagnet is powered directly by current from the incoming power lines; the other, by current drawn through the building's electrical circuits. The interaction of the magnetic fields produced by the coils causes the disk to rotate. Two permanent magnets near the disk's edge brake the disk in such a way that the speed of rotation is proportional to the amount of current drawn. As the disk rotates, it turns the series of geared wheels connected to the indicators on the meter's face.

Electronic watt-hour meters use solid state circuits that produce electrical signals whose frequency or strength is proportional to the voltage and current being used. These signals are converted into energy measurements recorded by mechanical or electronic indicators. An Optical sensor converts the measured data into digital form which can be provided as inputs to modem.

2. COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Communication system contains a modem at senders side to modulate the data which is then injected in the power lines .Power Line Communication technique is used to transmit data over long distances in AMR systems. At receivers end there is a modem that demodulates the data received and feed it to host computer.

3. CENTRAL OFFICE EQUIPMENT Central Office Equipment contains Host computers and data concentrators .Host Computers must contain operating software that must be designed for the information of every subscriber in every sub power network (subscriber identification number, billing address etc).

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AUTOMATIC METER READING SETUP

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METHODS OF ILLEGAL ELECTRICITY USAGE

There are various methods in which an automatic electric meter can be tampered so that reading taken by the meter is less than actual consumption. In illegal usage, a subscriber illegally uses electricity in following ways:
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1. Using the mechanical objects: A subscriber can use some mechanical objects to prevent the revolution of a meter, so that disk speed is reduced and the recorded energy is also reduced. 2. Using a fixed magnet: A subscriber can use a fixed magnet to change the electromagnetic field of the current coils. As it is well known that the recorded energy proportional to electromagnetic field. 3. Using the external phase before meter terminals: This method gives subscribers free energy without any record. 4. Switching the energy cables at the meter connector box: In this way , the current does not pass through the current coil of the meter, so the meter does not record the energy consumption. Although all of the methods explained above may be valid for electromechanical meters, only the last two methods are valid for digital meters.

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DEECTION AND CONTROL SYSTEM

The control system for detection of illegal usage of electricity is

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In this system an energy meter along with a modem is installed between distribution line and subscriber line. In the above figure PLC 1A, PLC 2APLC NA are the power line communication modules or modems installed in household energy meters These units provide communication with each other and send the recorded data in kilowatt hour meters to the PLC unit.PLC1B, PLC 2B.PLC NB are the modems installed near the connection point of distribution line and subscriber lines. Host modem is installed near distribution transformer which collects the data from the energy chip and electrical meter.

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WORKING OF THE SYSTEM

The recorded data in kilowatt hour meters for every subscriber are sent to host PLC modem via PLC modems which are placed in subscribers locations. On the other hand energy meter chips are located in connection point and read the energy in kilowatt hours and also send the data to host PLC unit. This proposed detector system as two recorded energy data in host PLC unit, one which comes from the AMR-PLC, and the other which comes from the PLC at the connection points. These two recorded energy data are compared in the host PLC; if there is any difference between two readings an error signal is generated. This means that there is an illegal electricity usage in the network. After that, the subscriber address and error signal are combined and sent to the central control unit. If it is, requested, a mechanism may be included to the system at location to turn off the energy automatically, as in the case of illegal usage

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SYSTEM SIMULATION AND MODELLING OF THE DETECTION SYSTEM OF ILLEGAL ELECTRICITY USAGE FOR ELECTROMECHANICAL KILOWATTHOUR METERS

Fig 5(courtesy-, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery,vol.19,no.4,Oct 2004.) A host PLC modem, an energy meter chip and its PLC modem, an electromechanical kilowatt hour meter and its PLC modem, and an optical reflector sensor system are loaded at the same phase of the power grid. The energy value at the electromechanical kilowatt hour meter is converted to digital data using optical reflector sensor. Disk speed of the kilowatt hour meter is counted and obtained data is sent to PLC modem as energy value of the kilowatt hour meter. At the system model, an illegal load may be connected to the power line before the kilowatt hour meter via an S switch. While only a legal load is in the system, two meters are accorded each other to compensate for any error readings. The host PLC unit reads two recorded data coming from metering PLC units. If the S switch is closed , illegal load is connected to the system., and therefore two recorded energy values are different from each other. The host PLC unit generates error signal when it receives two different records from the same subscriber. In real application, the AMR system may be designed in all CENELAC bands. Data signaling between PLC
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modems has a protocol which includes a header, address, energy value data, error correction bits, and other serial communication bits such as parity and stop bits. The protocol may also be changed according to the properties of the required system and national power grid architecture. In the digital energy meter system, the recorded energy may be received in the digital form directly using the port of the meter. Therefore, there is no need for an optical reflector system in digital meters. 1. ADVANTAGES OF THIS SYSTEM : 1) It is the most economically viable technology for transferring Meter data to DCU. 2) Uses the technique of communicating the data over existing Electrical Lines which carry LT power to the site. 3) Since the connection point is usually in the air or at underground, it is not suitable for anyone to access, such that its control is easy. 4) It is very economical and is reliable solution when it is compared with the economical loss caused by illegal usage. 2. CONDITIONS FOR THIS DETECTION AND CONTROL: 1) PLC signaling must be in CENELAC standards. CENELAC has formed the standard in which the frequency bands, signaling levels, and procedure are specified. 2) 3-9 KHz are restricted for use by electricity suppliers, and 95-148.5KHz are restricted to consumer use. The signal level for the band 95-148.5 KHz is limited as follows. For general usage ,the signaling level is limited to 116dbV.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROPOSED DETECTOR SYSTEM

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This detector system is the equipment and procedure for controlling more remote stations from a master control station. This systems along with some other techniques is used in AMI (Advance Metering Systems) to detect power theft by tampering of electric meters. This system includes PLC modems, energy meters, control logics, and the system software. 1. PLC MODEMS: These used for two way communication to and from the host station and the remotely controlled targets. 2. ENERGY METER AND CONTROL LOGIC: Energy meter includes metering chip, and some circuit element. control and logic units compare and generate the error signal in the illegal usage. 3. SYTEM SOFTWARE: Assembler program for the microcontroller and the operating software for the management of the overall system. Operator software may be downloaded from a PC and should be placed in the main center of the system.

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AN AMR SYSTEM FOR AN ILLEGAL DETECTOR PERFORMS THE FOLLOWING FUNCTONS:

1) Every user has two PLC modems; one is for AMR and the other is used to send the data from second energy meter chip to host PLC modem. 2) An energy meter must be connected in the connection box between a home line and main power lines. 3) The host PLC unit must be placed in the distribution transformer and the configuration of the addressing format of PLC signaling must be designed carefully. 4) The host PLC modem and its controller must include two addresses per every user: one is the AMR and the other for the energy meter. These two addresses must be selected sequentially. 5) Operating software must designed for the information of every subscriber in every sub power network: subscriber identification number, billing address etc. 6) The system has two values of energy consumption for every user, so if there is a difference between them an error signal is generated for the illegal user. 7) This equipment is the only one distributed in the power network. So this system should be repeated for all distribution power networks. All host units in each distribution transformer maybe connected only one main center station via phone lines, fibre optic cable or RF links.

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ADVANTAGES OF AMR

1. Smart automated process instead of manual work. 2. Accurate information from the network load to optimise maintenance and investments 3. Customized rates and billing dates. 4. Streamlined high bill investigations. 5. Detection of tampering of Meters. 6. Accurate measurement of transmission losses. 7. Better network performance and cost efficiency. 8. Demand and distribution management. 9. More intelligence to business planning 10. Better company credibility.

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SYSTEM LIMITATIONS

1. This system cannot be used on high voltage lines. 2. This system cannot detect power theft by hacking of software used in electric meters which is used in modern AMI (Advanced metering Infrastructures) systems.

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CONCLUSION
This system can be effectively used to improve traditional AMR systems so as to detect power theft without the use of man power. The system functions with real-time monitoring users and burden forecast, which uses MV&LV PLC as its transmission media. The system is integrated with power management and burden control. Under power theft, the relay is switched off isolating the area of power theft from the EB side .LCD display also indicates power theft. Energy regulation does not represent an obstacle, since PLC service does not affect the power supply and maintains separate accounts from the core utility business. This system forms the part of AMI (advanced metering infrastructure) to detect power theft by tampering of electric meters.AMI systems which includes this system is being deployed in many countries namely Australia, U.S.A.

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REFERENCE
[1] Hakki Cavdar, A solution to remote detection of illegal electricity usage via power line communication, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery,vol.19,no.4,Oct 2004. [2] T.Y.Lim and T.W.Chan, Experimenting remote kilowatt hour meter through low voltage power lines at dense housing areas, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, vol.17, pp708-711,july 2002. [3] J.Newbury and W.Miller, Multiprotocol routing for automatic remote using power line carrier systems, IEEE Trans. Power delivery,vol.16 pp 1-5,Jan 2001.

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