became gradually more common. The system’ s analogue nature meant that there was no oversight into these faults, so maintenance technicians would undergo timeconsuming investigations to identify and remedy the problem.
The company asked EES to help it transition to digital start sequence control and excitation in a bid to understand more about its equipment’ s performance, system health and future maintenance requirements.
The design process involved several days onsite performing a survey, as EES’ engineers must fit the new system into the same space and modify existing wiring. Devising the modifications required to move the switchgear controls to the new system was the biggest engineering challenge in this project, as collecting feedback from different components and knowing what parts to keep versus remove was tricky.
What does digitisation look like?
At the centre of the solution is an excitation control cubicle,
Digitising now promises data oversight, reliable operation and better lifecycle insights.
constructed with Westbury Control Systems of Leicester. The panel features an HMI that displays realtime values for exciter field current, voltage, circuit breaker position and excitation status.
Operators can observe startup sequences, log abnormal conditions and adjust setpoints remotely. This functionality enables predictive maintenance scheduling based on trend analysis rather than reactive fault response. It also provides more data if a sequence failure or fault occurs.
The digital system also affords the customer’ s operators start sequence control. During motor start-up, the digital system initiates a soft excitation routine by applying a reduced field current, thereby limiting mechanical and electrical stress on the motor.
The system measures motor conditions and closes appropriate circuit breakers based on the start sequence step. It incrementally ramps up excitation to synchronise and transfers to power factor control once stability is confirmed, a previously manual and uncontrolled operation.
By transitioning from analogue to digital excitation, the industrial gases company will join the 65 per cent of engineering and manufacturing businesses prioritising smarter, data-driven control systems. As the industrial Internet of Things grows and more processes are automated, facility managers will benefit from greater maintenance insights and uptime.
To see how analogue excitation systems can actually lend an advantage in power generation, read EES’ latest article on nuclear cybersecurity and software validation at www. excitationengineering. co. uk.
For further information, please visit www. excitationengineering. co. uk
Issue 75 PECM 45