Precision Power Analysis

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WT5000 Precision Power Analyser measures power grid transformer losses accurately

Highly accurate power analyser provides ability to perform precise verification of power losses in transformers

The WT5000 Precision Power Analyser – Transformer Version from Yokogawa is designed to help transformer manufacturers develop and validate the losses of highly efficient products for utility industry customers.

Transformers play a crucial role in the power grid. With electricity demand set to soar to as much as 40 TWh by 2040 and with transformers responsible for some 4% of distribution network losses, achieving more efficient transformers has never been more important.

Owners of distribution networks impose penalties on transformer manufacturers according to the degree of losses measured during the no load test. As these penalties can exceed 13,000 EUR per kilowatt and include the measurement uncertainty, it is vital for transformer manufacturers to measure these losses accurately and with minimum uncertainty. This lowers the cost of penalties and builds greater trust with customers.

The WT5000 instrument helps manufacturers achieve the highly accurate analysis needed to develop economical and efficient transformers. The instrument is equipped with a special input module that has much better uncertainty specifications for transformer testing.

The WT5000 is Yokogawa’s most accurate power analyser, offering accuracy of 0.008% at unity power factor and offering the best accuracies at low power factors for commercial frequencies of 45 to 66 Hz. Low power factors have a dramatic effect on accuracy. The instrument offers accuracy of 0.6% of the reading for measurement, even at a power factor as low as 0.001 at 100 V and 1 A.

Kelvin Hagebeuk, Marketing Manager – Test and Measurement, says: “Whether during R&D, production, or acceptance testing, the WT5000 produces the reliable measurements that engineers need as they seek to improve transformer efficiencies and verify the losses to reduce the total cost of ownership for utility companies.”

It is supplied with ISO17025 accredited calibration certificates from Yokogawa’s ISO17025 accredited calibration laboratory. This gives confidence that they comply with the IEC60076-8 standard.

The analyser is calibrated at 53Hz at power factors of 1, 0.5, 0.05, 0.01 and 0.001. Additional calibration up to 100 kHz ensures performance when measuring distorted waveforms, for example during no-load loss current measurements of transformers. This enables the integrated transformer measurement system to measure power losses with great accuracy and capture any drift outside the limits described in the IEC60076-8 Standard.

Engineers can measure either three or four different power phases at 10 MS/s (18 bits) with the instrument. The high resolution, 10.1-inch WXGA display allows split screen viewing of up to seven waveforms and can display up to 12 pages of measurement parameters, from products as diverse as inverter-driven motors, renewable energy technologies and traction applications such as pumps, fans, electric vehicles and power transformers. Measurements can also be displayed in vector format or trending in time.

With supporting software packages, users can simultaneously view up to 22 waveforms and two harmonic bar graphs (six waveforms, sixteen trends, two vectors, and three harmonic bar graphs) in split screen mode. Alternatively, they can zoom in using cursors to see more detail in a particular area of interest. Users can customise, save and load screen layouts as well as specify the data to be saved in CSV format. The software also allows users to create custom computations, combining values from multiple power analysers.

Additionally, the software allows users to analyse and control remote measurements in real time or use previously acquired data. In the online mode, users have real-time control of measurements from each connected instrument, allowing them to remotely start or stop integration or collect live measurement values.

Jonathan Newell
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