OGY FOR ONIT0RING

OL, OF POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

BY

Dr. Y.S.N. Murty

Professor & Dean of Information Technology
Engineerhg :Staff College of lnclia
Visvesvaraya Bhavan, Khairatabad
HYDERABAD 4

SUMMARY
Information Technology is going to play a malor
industries;,
role in
every country in their
monitoring and control of power generation
and distribution systems, gathering of information regarding ineeds of rural people and online interaction to provide assistance in the
areas of skills fctr management of their electric
pump systems, distribution transformers and i~
host of other such applications. 50% of activities
in all countries will be carried out through information technolq y. This Is due to the current
availability of low cost personal computer's and
high level of appplied software which is avaiiable.
Present paper oiitlines role of information Technology in monitoring and control of power dis-

transmission lines, pilferage and poor quality of

transformers etc. The country needs a huge increase in the power for meeting the needs of the
growth in industry and agriculture. Power saved
is power generated. if we can reduce or prevent
the losses in the distribution system it is possible
to make more power available to the consumers.
For the purpose of reducing the power loss the
root eauscf is required to be identified and
preventive ;and corrective actions are taken. This
requires a continuous automatic monitoring of
power generated and available at various distribution transformer points. For this purpose
voltage awl current sensors are required to be
provided alt the distribution transformers. Using
telemetry the data on the power available at
each transformer can be continuously transmitted
through the satellite or fibre optic cable to a
central cornmand and control port where one
can obtain the information on the actual power
generated and actual power available to the
consumers. From the continuous monitoring of
the data on supply, demand and availability of
power one can know the root cause of the iosses in power distribution system. Based on this
information one can take remote control actions
of the power distribution system. It is also possible by proper switching systems to control
the availability of power at various distribution
transformers. We are aware that the life of the
distribution power line transformers is generally
10 - 15 yeairs whereas in reality we find that 30%

tribution.

INTRODUCTION:
India is a vast country with a large number of
power distributioti networks. These networks aro
used for supply of power to industries, rural
people, domestic: consumers and street light!;
etc. In the weslern countries and the advanced
eastern countrie5, the power distribution loss i!;
less than 10%. In India, however, it was founcf
that the power generated and the actual poweir
available to the consumers is having a loss margin of 25 - 30% This loss is due to inefficient

235

3 years. The cause of this Is

ding of the transformer and
r ~a~n~enance.
Thermal sensors can
with the transformers and when the
transformer exceeds the

et burnt in 2

The demand for eiectrictty is increasing by leeps

and bounds

thus calling for better distribution

sytems and

quaNy of eiectrlclty supplied to

customers. Further the distribution system should

ensure

tolerable ~im~ts,
a u t o ~ a ~ ai c~ t i o ncan
~ be initiated
for s w ~ t ~ h loff
n ~the power to the transformer
n be initiated. This acmers from being burnt
a lot of money currently being.spent
of t r a n s f o ~ e r ~
The
. obper is to obtain the Worthe health of the transformer
to a central computer
c o n t r ~ s y s t e ~which can take decisions and
sters and optimise the available
power for u~i6~satlon
by v a r i o ~Consumers.

uninterrupted availability, reliability and

maintainability of the standard of voltage and

frequency within the stipulated limits. For meeting
above needs of customers the power distribution
information should be available on-line ~ y ~ ~ i ~ i l y ~

With the monitoring infot-mation thus avabble, the

data can be generated for assessing the extent to
which the needs of the customers are met.
I N ~ O ~ TECHNOLOGY
~ A ~ ~ OTOOLS:
~

With the significant increase in the customers of

both authorised and unauthorised categ

ER DlST

now become essential to use currently a ~ a ~ ~ ~ b l e

eve~opments have taken place In
the ~ e n e r a ~ ~ and
o n transm~ssion of electrical

information technology tools to gather and forward

the information to a central control poht and

ower. ~ ~ w e v e rth
,
e v e ~ o ~ ~ e nint $power
~lstr~bution
~ y s t e ~n s
n s ~ d e r a ~attention.
e
The d~stribution@ng~fleer
is responsible for ensurIng ~ t l ~ a c t ~
o othe
n consumer of the electricity
dissupply ~ n d u s t ~ .The function of el~ctrici~y
y available to each of
ntral bulk point. The
Is essential to opto each customer.
s of ~ r k e t ~ nand
g
control of power d ~ s t r i ~ utechni~u@s
~io~
have significant drawba~ksin view of the large volume of
customers and ~ i s t r ~ b u ~ iof
o n~ o w e rand power
generation systems.
ne of the key factors in
optim~sa~ion
of func~i of power distr~b~tion
is
the dynamic data on the central p o w ~ r
enerated and ~ o w e rmade ava~~able
to the cusmers as per the current meters. It is ,found
s i ~ n ~ ~ mismat
~~ant

computer. Such information can be processed for

corrective and preventive actions and power load
management at various distribution points.
Since the advent of microprocessor around 1982,
the personal computers have made big Impact and
are now available in c
suitable software the

PC

be made part and

parcel of any distribution system for optimisation

and effectiveness.
The g r ~ ~ i ndemand
g
for electricity in terms of
increasing growth rates and high densities make It
imperative that the distribution system should be
capab~e of handling higher voltages,

higher

cities, better control mechanism to ensure

e,continuous and better performance of the
distrib~iQnsystem. It is also necessary to have
~ n ~ o r m ~ ton
i Q nthe customer load distribution and

This ~@v@als
losses b e ~ @ @power
n
powe~d ~ s t r ~ ~ As
~ o such
n . it is
e c e s ~ ato~ ~ ~ e the
n ~ cause
~ ~ yof pow^ loss
and also hQw the

tomer.

the pattern in which this distribution Is changing

with more and more industries, agriculture, pump
s y ~ ~ edomestic
~s,
consumers, street lighting etc.

236

Monitoring an
system:

reality 30% of transformers in India are getting

burnt within two to three years. This is due to
one of the following causes :

control of power distribution

in computers have made sig-

the last two decades and

used in the power industry
monitoring and control of

1.

Lack of adequate oil in the transformers.

2.

Overloading of the transformers by drawing

moro than the stipulated
power.
Pilferage and leakage are the causes of drop
in thle level of transformer oil. Overload can
be due to unauthorised persons drawing
power from the transformers. Overload of
power and inadequate OU causes overheating
beyond the tolerable limit. This can cause the
burniing of transformer. For preventive and
corrective actions for healthy operation of
transformers it is now possible to integrate a
thermistor heat sensing sensor, as well as, it Is
posslbie to put a sensor to indicatethe level of

and power actually made

ethods employed are only
terface telemetry sensors
ystem,
as well as, the
voltage, the current,
ture, oil
level in ;the
various other parameter:;
quality power availstomers. Also it is possibile to

oil.

The output of these sensors will generate electrical

voltages which can be transmitted through the

ther

losses in tlhe

current communication networks

to a central

monitoring office where an alarm of both visual

and audio can be activated. The maintenance staff,

EFFECT OF O$ERLOAQING :

as well as, a computer system can automatically

system can
Over loading in a distribution
of
power
to
the
customelrs
cause disruption
quality of
and
also c i use degradation in
The
power supplieij to the consumers.
of drop of
degradation can be In the way
voltage, chango in frequency, which can cause
systems of the
more damages Bo the electrical
consumers. Co *rective actions can be initiated
identify the root cause of the
and also we call
Is now possibile
theft and other losses. This
by automatic methods using software controlled, programmalie computers.

switch off the input to the transformer. Hybrid

Communication Networks can access transformers
located in any part of the country. Currently,
ruggedised telemetry systems

are available

indigenously (Developed by DRDO) which can be

Interfaced with the sensors

and the Hybrid

Communlc~tlon Networks can be made available

for on-line dataflow on the performance and health
of a

trainsformer.

A network of all

power

transformers can be integrated and the data can be

made to flow to a control port. By this on-line

CASE STUDY:

continuous monitoring the

can be generated, riamely

MA~NTENANCE~
OF RURAL TRANSFORMERS:

n transfor- mers are part of all

The life of a power transformler

5 years.

follo,ving information

However, in actual
237

1.

OVerllDad is taking place

2.

The normal timing when such o ierload takes

place.

ether the overload is a regular feature or

sporadic
~ o c ~ lor
i ~ area
y of the transformer
wh~chIs
5.

ett tin^

OV@dWdded.

Timely
actions to
prevent and make
~ o ~ r e c ~steps
i v e by nearest m a i n ~ @ n astaff
n~~
through the use of information flow.

The current { n f ~ ~ a technology

t ~ o ~
tools and
h ~ b ~c ~o dm ~ u n ~ aystem
~ t ~ nwill provide a lot
of savings in the expenditure in replacement of
transformers and also get revenue from the persons who are pilfering the power.

It is recommended that currently available

lntormation Technology Tools should be fully usedl
for monitoring and control of power d i s t r i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
systems. This cafls for Interfacing of telemet
systems, Interne!, mtcrowave finks and other
communication systems for
o way traffk of
gathering information for monitoring and sending
information for controlling on a continuous on-line
basis. Currently used manual methods will not be
useful for prevention of damages to power
distribution transformers as the lime avaliable Is
very short. Cornputorisation far contid and
monitoring of power dlstribution is essential from
now onwards.

238