Power monitoring systems play a critical role in industrial environments due to their ability to automatically analyze power quality events. These systems carefully dig in to what caused a power event and automatically mark significant events that could have caused damage within the facility.
Here are just a few reasons why it is beneficial for facilities of all sizes and types to invest in industrial power monitoring systems.
You’ve already had a key piece of equipment fail
Power monitoring systems serve as a preventative measure to help you predict potential equipment failure before it happens. They provide you with insight into the operation of your motors, transformers, pumps and electrical equipment and determine whether they are vulnerable to premature failure.
Pay special attention to issues such as: causes of excessive heat; micro-jogging or motor vibration in motor bearings; and heat and wear of cable insulation that could potentially result in short circuits.
If you need reliable, clean power to run safely
Any type of facility that requires constant, uninterrupted power for operation will need to be able to track its most critical power components in real time. Industrial power monitoring systems help you make sure that you aren’t overloading any of your equipment and that the equipment present isn’t setting off any alarms. You can also track metrics such as the number of times equipment has turned on or off or the total run hours for the equipment.
These metrics of reliability are important to track so you can keep the power on at your facility, increase the lifespan of your equipment and potentially cut costs.
You’ve experienced devices tripping or resetting
If you have a programmable logic controller (PLC) or distributed control system (DCS) that has been having issues with unexplained resets or power cycling or if you have a circuit breaker that keeps tripping for mysterious reasons, you could benefit from the use of an industrial power monitoring system.
Over time, this so-called nuisance tripping could have a significant negative effect on your facility. It could compromise the quality of your products or result in your emergency power supply system coming online in a situation when there is not actually an emergency.
This problem is typically a result of undervoltage, with voltage falling below IEEE standards, but there are other potential causes, all of which can be monitored and analyzed by an industrial power monitoring system.
You need to generate power reports for compliance purposes
There are many types of facilities that are required to generate and submit emergency power supply system (EPSS) reports for the purposes of compliance with federal or industry standards. Industrial power monitoring systems are able to automate this testing and reporting for equipment such as generators and transfer switches, which can make compliance a breeze and take quite a bit of work off your plate.
To learn more about the benefits of industrial power monitoring systems, get in touch with the power monitoring experts at Ham’s Electric, Inc. with any questions you have.