DRIVES EQUIPMENT LIFE EXTENSION, MODERNIZATION, AND RETROFITTING DAVID DOLEZILEK AND GERALDO ROCHA, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.   I. INTRODUCTION Much of the power system equipment in use today is nearing or has passed its predicted operating life, and we are pushing equipment to increasingly higher levels to meet demands. Injuries, failed equipment, unscheduled downtime, and

Lessons for Electrical Safety and Reliability H. Landis “Lanny” Floyd, DuPont   First, it may be useful to share a bit of background on DuPont, the oldest Fortune 500 company. French immigrant Eleuthère Irénée du Pont founded the company in 1802 to make black powder to supply gunpowder and explosives used in farming, mining, and construction

Don A. Genutis, No-Outage Electrical Testing, Inc. & Neil Davies, EA Technology   Introduction Just like people, electrical assets age and deteriorate; and as with human medicine, there have been tremendous advances in recent years in the ability to diagnose in the early stages ailments suffered by assets, enabling us to keep them healthy and

BY MICHAEL SKELTON Kelvatek Background One of the most critical devices on any electricity network is the circuit breaker which can be described as the silent sentinel, standing guard over the network and only being called into action when a fault occurs. The circuit breaker needs to operate within its composite tripping time (relay trip

By Baldwin Bridger Many older installations of metal-clad switchgear are candidates for modernizing or upgrading. The interrupting duty may have grown past the interrupting capacity of the existing circuit breakers, maintenance costs may be getting out of hand, or circuit breaker parts may no longer be available.   Modernization may be accomplished by either of

ANSI/NETA STANDARDS UPDATES ANSI/NETA MTS-2011 Revision Review and revision of the ANSI/NETA Standard for Maintenance Testing Specifications for Electrical Power Equipment and Systems was completed on April 15, 2011. This document is scheduled to be published as a revised American National Standard in 2011. These specifications cover the suggested field tests and inspections that are

BY KRISTEN WICKS NETA Each year NETA’s President is given the difficult task of selecting one of NETA’s many volunteers as the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award. This person demonstrates selflessness, drive, dedication, loyalty, and leads by example. This person is someone who balances family, friends, work, and philanthropy on a knife’s edge and

BY TODD MARTIN, Basler Electric Company       Updating Switchgear Relays Electromechanical overcurrent relays such as the IAC and CO are the historical backbone of power system protection. These relays use delicate mechanisms and precision components to develop their operating characteristics and are subject to misoperation and failure resulting from contamination, corrosion, and simple aging.