Electricity : Spot that leak , monitor it to avoid costly shutdowns
Unfamiliar with the term leakage ( residual *) current ? This is the current that leaks to earth from live conductors and electrical equipment . Leakage current is an indicator of the health of an electrical system ( heartbeat / pulse ). Increases in leakage current indicate developing problems with the electrical system and or electrical equipment - an early warning !
In the production environment , leakage current problems are normally associated with a fuse , circuit breaker or residual current device tripping and disconnecting the electrical supply . Why wait until the production line has stopped ? You do not for example wait for pressure to exceed a critical level and shut down the production , you monitor it constantly . So why not monitor electrical leakage ? 12 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk
Production Line Management
Efficient and effective production is synonymous with the health of the production line . We monitor changes in temperature , vibration , pressure , sound etc to identify developing issues . Enabling early assessment and maintenance scheduling i . e . predictive maintenance . The cost benefits of monitoring leakage current ( Residual Current Monitoring ), compared to the cost of lost production due to sudden power loss , damage to electrical equipment and personal safety are easy to quantify for individual sites .
Main reasons for not monitoring leakage currents :
1 – Unaware - acceptance of lost production due to electrical issues .
2 - Aware - but did not know how to monitor , solve the issue .
3 – Issues of an electrical nature passed to the electrician to deal with .
4 - Limited knowledge of complex leakage currents associated with modern production
Managing leakage currents
All electrical systems will leak electricity to earth , this is unavoidable . This is due to the nature of electricity and electrical insulation . Leakage currents associated with electronic equipment such as speed control invertors , EMC filters , motion control for positioning and robots , are significantly higher in value than conventional electrical equipment and more complex . This requires specific types of monitoring and residual current protection device . Increases in operational leakage current above the