Smart and Non-Intrusive Power Infrastructure Monitoring

Project Title

Smart and Non-Intrusive Power Infrastructure Monitoring

Project Area of Specialization Electrical/Electronic EngineeringProject Summary

With the advancement and improvement of national power systems, unwavering quality and security issues of power system has turned into a significant subject of conversation. Power systems are a fundamental asset in any electrical framework and subsequently they require special consideration. It is important to monitor the health status of any power system distributed over a wide area. There is also an increased demand of remote monitoring for sensing and managing of voltage, current, temperature and other parameters.

This project presents the idea of an embedded system to monitor diverse electrical variables non-intrusively. This monitoring system coordinates Wi-Fi Access Point module, sensors, and single chip microcontroller. The system will be programmed with predefined guidelines to monitor and check unusual conditions. This system will be implementing an advanced automation system to diminish human reliance. In comparison to the old monitoring systems, this embedded system is greatly improved in terms of dependability, unwavering quality, and reliability. The system also offers an embedded web server through which distant users can acquire the status data continuously without limitation of time and space. These embedded servers have many advantages, such as small size, low power utilization, minimal expense, and flexible design. It is easy to implement and is an effective way of providing remote data access through web server in an embedded system.

Project Objectives

The existing power infrastructures systems are sometimes unable to accommodate enormous demands, especially when the distribution of load is uneven throughout the power system. In addition, widespread deregulation, non-renewable energy use, use of mobile as a medium of wireless communication, and the significant expansion of interrelated data makes these systems increasingly heterogeneous, decentralized, and interdependent. The seamless integration of all the components that make up these power infrastructure systems present a major challenge that requires special attention in terms of continuous monitoring of the component’s performance and output of the system. Failure of any one of the interrelated systems can cause a halt to the whole process. A failure in any national power generation plant can cause many other interrelated systems to stop due to power breakdown.

In these major electrical systems, it is important to identify the data or output to determine which power fluctuations can cause problems. It is also important to perform monthly or weekly checks to see how each system is performing. It is also important to minimize the number of failures by always keeping inspection intervals within the same time frame.

Thus, there is a need to implement an infrastructure monitoring system which mainly aims to target the real time conditions of the voltage, current, phases, oil level, temperature, and vibration of any infrastructure power system. Our project shall be able to provide precise and dependable problem detection techniques, real-time data monitoring, and quick response times. The system can help prevent equipment failures by performing preventive maintenance measures.

This will increase the life span of our power infrastructure systems. As the project will be designed to record values non-intrusively, there are zero chances of human contact with the electrical system and as a result there is minimal chance of any mishap to occur. By implementation of this monitoring system, 30 to 50 percent of the losses will be reduced, which is caused due to revenue loss and amount spent on maintenance of the system.

Project Implementation Method

The overall goal of the project is to develop remote monitoring systems for energy infrastructure monitoring so that companies can increase the life expectancy of these systems through regular maintenance that can help them recoup their capital investment. A specific goal is to develop a system that uses oil level, humidity, current, load and temperature sensors to monitor specific parameters. To process the input from sensors, we will be using the built-in analog to digital converters of STM32 microcontroller. We will be programming our STM32 F4 through STM32cubeIDE and develop the desired program for data analysis. The STM32CubeIDE is a complete development system to develop code for almost all STM32-based microcontrollers from ST Microelectronics. It can be used as a development platform for all STM32 MCU’s, whether it is on a development board such as from one of ST’s Nucleo or Discovery family, or a custom-designed board. Another advantage is that it allows much better control of the MCU.

Compared to Arduino, the user is no longer limited to just what functionalities Arduino provides, and what MCU’s it has been ported to. STM32 has low power consumption, CAN bus interface, convenient communication between remote monitoring terminals and gateway equipment, and 5-channel USART interface, which can easily communicate with wireless modules. Applications that don’t require the use of advanced libraries can be efficiently implemented using an Arduino board. However, applications that do require a series of advanced manipulations will generally require something a bit more sophisticated i.e. an ARM-based platform like the STM32. STM32 also has a peripheral register, memory views and live variable watch view. The IDE is efficient in real time tracing and has the tools for CPU fault analysis.

We will use Arduino IDE or Espressif to code the ESP32 in the C-language, and ESP32 will be used as a Wi-Fi Access Point for cloud connectivity. ESP32’s Sleep Mode feature will give us the advantage of cutting off power while it is not in the running state. ESP32 is a low cost, low power consuming System on Chip (SoC) with integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth compatible with Arduino IDE. ESP32 is completely open-source electronics. One of the good features of the official software of ESP32 IDF is that it has menu-driven configuration. Eclipse IDE can also be used with ESP-IDF plugin. While this way coding in C language is standard in electronics, it is not easy for all kind of users. Arduino IDE is easier for the starters and Espressif Systems.

Benefits of the Project

Energy infrastructure systems are usually overloaded because of lack of frequent monitoring of kilovolt-ampere demand. As mentioned earlier, the distribution of load on each phase is also uneven throughout the system. This results in a significant increase in operating temperature, core temperature, and failure of the cooling mechanism. The proposed method shall be able to identify the inefficiency in your system. With our power monitoring system, you will be able to monitor and track your entire system. Not only that you will also receive valuable insights to your electrical subsystems. This information will help you identify the inefficiencies in your system. Apart from that, power monitoring systems also provide you with information regarding the operational characteristics of the electrical system. With this, you will know where, when, and how the energy is been consumed.

You will also be able to detect which loads are consuming the most energy. This information can help you reduce your energy consumption. Our system will help reduce peak demand. Peak demand or peak load is the period when electrical power is provided at a higher level than the average supply level. Peak demands hit the industries very high by surging their energy consumption levels above normal. A good knowledge of the energy consumption in your facility will help you identify a wide range of ways to boost your efficiency by minimizing waste and reduce your rates of energy consumption. The system will notify you about the impending maintenance. The data gathered from the power monitoring system can be used to notify you when the equipment exceeds their parameter. This will allow you plan before you face any machinery breakdown or shutdown.

This system will ensure safety as it will provide remote status and other operational parameters of electrical equipment within any hazardous area. Thus, it reduces the chances of exposure to the potentially dangerous electrical environment. The benefits of the power monitoring system will have a deep impact on the bottom line of your business. By reducing energy consumption and monitoring the equipment of your facility, it saves huge costs.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

To process the input from sensors, we will be using the built-in analog to digital converters of STM32 microcontroller. Main supply AC voltages cannot be measured directly with a microcontroller. STM32 operates in the range of VDD = 1.8 to 3.6 V. Thus, we need to step down the main voltages to read the values directly from a microcontroller. For this purpose, we will design a step-down circuitry using operational amplifiers. This circuit is an alternate to the step-down transformer and is also much smaller in size. The circuitry consists of differential amplifiers, feedback resistors, variable resistors to provide DC Shift to the input signal, and electrolytic capacitors to avoid interference of main supply with DC shift. In our circuit we are using LM358 IC.

We will use STM32 to sample the output signals from step-down circuitry and sensors. We will use built in ADCs of STM to sample the signals. The ADC embedded in STM32 microcontrollers uses the SAR (successive approximation register) principle, by which the conversion is performed in several steps. The number of conversion steps is equal to the number of bits in the ADC converter. Each step is driven by the ADC clock. Each ADC clock produces one bit from result to output. The ADC internal design is based on the switched-capacitor technique.

We will use ESP32 in access point mode, to build its own WiFi network. All devices within the range of this WiFi network can connect to it using the user defined network name and password. All devices connected to it will act as a station and ESP32 as an access point.

Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemCore Industry Energy Other IndustriesCore Technology Internet of Things (IoT)Other TechnologiesSustainable Development Goals Industry, Innovation and InfrastructureRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	79000
STM32f407 Discovery Kit	Equipment	2	15000	30000
ESP32	Equipment	2	1000	2000
Electronic Components	Equipment	2	6000	12000
Sensors	Equipment	5	2000	10000
Backup Power Supply	Equipment	2	1000	2000
PCB Printing	Equipment	1	10000	10000
Current Transformers	Equipment	6	500	3000
Printing	Miscellaneous	1	10000	10000