ScottishPower puts Outram on trial

28May

The first stage of field trials conducted by Scottish Power into Outram Research’s new fault current prediction technology has delivered encouraging results. Accurate network peak fault current measurement is critical, as it defines the rating of components such as circuit breakers, which must safely withstand the large release of energy that occurs during an electrical fault

Outram’s patent-pending technique to predict fault current from network measurements was developed by managing director, John Outram to provide greater accuracy than that available from current techniques. The project, funded by Ofgem’s Innovation Funding Initiative, involves a three-stage trial, the first of which measured rms ‘break’ current. In this trial, Outram’s system delivered accuracy to within 2% of the network model.

Accurate prediction of fault current enables utilities to specify network components correctly and with a high degree of confidence. In this way, it is possible to reduce the incidence of money being wasted on equipment that is essentially over-compensating by providing a safety margin dictated by uncertainty.

Fault current is measured using an algorithm developed by Outram Research, which runs on its PM7000 power quality analyser platform. The first stage of the project was to predict the rms ‘break’ current, which represents the highest possible current that might have to be interrupted in the case of a fault occurring on an already live circuit. Breakers in the network must operate up to this maximum fault current to ensure that the power is safely and quickly disconnected. ScottishPower Energy Network’s director of network development, Jim Sutherland is particularly pleased with this initial result:

“The first stage of the field trials have been very encouraging, demonstrating the huge potential of Outram’s technique to predict fault current. We’re optimistic that once all stages are complete, we will be able to use this approach to allow us to accurately specify breakers and other components in the network.”

Stage two of the project, which aims to measure the peak ‘make’ current – the current that flows when a connection is made to a section of the network where a fault is already present, has now commenced.

Electricity distribution networks are becoming increasingly complex, and can no longer be modelled as a simple ‘waterfall’, where power flows from the power station to the load. In the event of a fault, components such as motors and embedded generation will deliver power back to the grid. This presents a potentially unknown level of fault current since it is impossible to have prior knowledge of such events without building complex network models and having a full understanding of all customer loads. Local electricity generation from renewable sources presents a similar downstream contribution that should be calculated.

The third stage of the project will demonstrate that the Outram approach can elucidate the contribution to fault current from such loads through its measurement technique.
Existing approaches to calculating peak ‘make’ current are less accurate than those for peak ‘break’ current, and they usually ignore the increasingly important downstream contribution. John Outram concludes:

“ScottishPower has been an excellent partner, allowing us to demonstrate the effectiveness of our new technique in a real-world situation. We’re delighted with the results of the first stage of the field trials, and are excited as we move into the second and third stages, where our refined and extended fault current prediction will provide even greater benefits to electrical utilities.”