There are several important reasons to monitor power quality. The primary reason underpinning all others is economic, particularly if critical process load are being adversely affected by electromagnetic phenomena. Effects on equipment and process operations can include misoperation, damage, process disruption and other such anomalies. Such disruptions are costly since a profit-based operation is interrupted unexpectedly and must be restored to continue operation.
The procedure for defining monitoring objectives differs by the type of study. For diagnostic monitoring to solve shutdown problems with sensitive equipment, the objective may be to capture out-of-tolerance events of certain types. Evaluative or preventive monitoring may require the collection of several voltage and current parameters in order to characterize the existing level of power.
Power Quality Parameters that can be measured:
Power frequency
The magnitude of the supply voltage
Flicker
Supply voltage dips and swells
Voltage interruptions
Harmonics Voltage
Approach
Pre-audit information based on walkthrough of facility
Study of past trend and direct site readings
Comprehensive Power Quality Analysis Report
Includes site visit, data collection and analysis followed by recommendations concerning to sizing and maintenance of the systems.