The Importance of Circuit Breaker Testing in Preventative Maintenance

Circuit breakers can often go for extended periods without activation. While their reliability is typically high, if they fail when activated, the consequences can be catastrophic.

Failures during activation may result in severe arc flash incidents, threatening the safety of your staff and your plant operations. Additionally, such failures can cause extensive and costly damage to your electrical systems. To prevent these issues, routine testing and maintenance of circuit breakers are critical.

Primary Injection Testing
Primary and secondary injection testing should be integral components of your preventative maintenance plan to ensure the reliability and safety of your power circuit breakers.

Why Primary Injection Testing?
Primary injection testing is often preferred because it encompasses the entire current path, including current sensors, wiring, and the breaker itself. This method provides a comprehensive check of the system’s functionality. However, it may not always detect issues related to sensor wiring and polarity, so additional inspections may be required.

How Does It Work?
In a primary injection test, a calculated amount of low voltage (typically 5 to 10 volts) is used to generate high current, which is then injected through the circuit breaker. The breaker’s trip response time is measured and compared to its time-current curve specifications. Each function of the breaker requires a specific testing current value with a corresponding acceptable time response to determine compliance.

Common Primary Injection Tests
Primary injection tests can be applied to a variety of systems, including:

• Power Transformers (e.g., through-fault testing)
• Relay Testing
• Buswork, Switchgear, and High-Voltage (HV) Breakers
• Low-Voltage Breakers
• Heat Runs (thermal performance under load conditions)
• Stability Tests (system performance under transient conditions)
• Loose Connections (identifying contact resistance issues)
• Core Identification (testing transformer core performance)

Secondary Injection Testing
Secondary injection testing complements primary testing and is often performed first to minimise risks during initial assessments, particularly on the low-voltage side of the equipment.

What Does It Do?
Secondary injection testing focuses on the proper operation of protection controls downstream from the protection relays. Unlike primary injection testing, it does not involve high current flowing through the breaker’s line and load contacts. Instead, this method verifies the electronic trip functions and protection settings of the circuit breaker.

How Does It Work?
This type of testing usually involves disconnecting the trip unit from its normal circuitry and connecting it to specialized testing equipment. This equipment injects simulated signals, measures response times, and records the breaker’s operational characteristics. Secondary testing provides a safer and more accessible way to verify the electronic and functional integrity of circuit breakers.

Advantages of Secondary Injection Testing

• It allows testing of the breaker’s electronic components without subjecting the system to high current.
• It is simpler, faster, and safer to perform.
• It provides an initial verification of the breaker’s settings and functionality before conducting primary injection tests.

The Critical Role of Preventative Maintenance
Incorporating both primary and secondary injection testing into your preventative maintenance program ensures the reliability and safety of your electrical systems. Regular testing helps:

• Detect and address potential issues before they escalate into system failures.
• Enhance workplace safety by minimising the risk of arc flashes and electrical fires.
• Reduce downtime and costly repairs by maintaining system integrity.
• Extend the lifespan of circuit breakers and related equipment.

Get Expert Support for Circuit Breaker Testing
If you need assistance incorporating primary and secondary injection testing into your preventative maintenance program, the EAS team is here to help. Our experienced professionals can provide tailored solutions to meet your facility’s needs. Contact us today at 07 834 0505 to ensure your circuit breakers are operating safely and reliably.

• 50% of sickness comes from poor indoor air quality
  (USA figures from US Environmental Protection Agency)
• Good Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) increases productivity by 20%
  (Green Building Council)
• UVC solutions can save up to 15% in energy costs.

Air Conditioning provides us with a comfortable working environment, where we believe we are breathing good clean air. However, there are many invisible pollutants in the air that we are often not aware of and the damage they are doing.

With the spread of Covid-19 around the globe, we have all become much more aware of the ease with which viruses transmit. The diagram below shows all the ways that viruses and bacteria can get into HVAC systems.

Image source:  Steril-Aire

The biggest cause of poor indoor air quality is Biofilm.

Biofilm forms when mould and bacteria adhere to surfaces in moist environments by excreting a slimy glue-like substance which dust sticks to. The biofilm grows in the cooling coil and releases spores into the air stream. As Biofilm grows it forms a protective shell which traditional cleaners are unable to fully penetrate, making it difficult to remove. Biofilm is also a poor conductor of heat and therefore inhibits the cooling efficiency of the coil. In addition to Biofilm, indoor air quality is also reduced by the circulation of virus and bacteria contaminants brought into the building by people and from the outside air.

How can you improve indoor air quality?
Ultraviolet-C (UVC) light is a powerful tool for arresting the spread of unhealthy contaminants.

UVC inactivates the microbes, bacteria, viruses and mould by altering their DNA, destroying their ability to reproduce.

Source: Steril-Aire

With the correct number of emitters and UVC dose selected according to your cooling coil size and airflow up to 99% of the airborne biological pollutants can be destroyed. UVC will also eliminate the mould that keeps the biofilm attached to the fins of the cooling coil. The dead mould detaches from the metal fins and is washed into the drain pan by the condensate leaving the cooling coils clean.

Benefits of using UVC light sterilisers:

• Improved energy efficiency. When coils are covered in biofilm the HVAC system needs to work harder, shortening their lifespan and increasing energy costs.  As Air Conditioning typically contributes a significant portion of energy costs there are excellent savings to be made. Some systems claiming payback within 24 months of installation or less.
• Poor Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) causes 50% of illness in the US according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With good IAQ decreasing employee absenteeism by 20 – 50%.
• In food processing plants the use of UVC can enhance food safety through mould, bacteria and virus control extending product shelf life and improving quality and production yields.

If you would like to find out more about installing UVC light sterilisers in your HVAC systems, get in touch with EAS today on 07 834 0505.

Have you considered a water bore?

What are bore pumps:
A bore is a hole drilled in the ground that fills up with groundwater which can then be pumped out to use for drinking water for animals and livestock or irrigating gardens and farms.

Groundwater is water found beneath the land in pores and fissures in rock and soil. A bore pump, either above ground or a submersible pump and motor, is used to pump the water up and out for a range of uses.

Care needs to be taken when selecting a location to install a bore pump, ensuring safe and clean drinking water. Contact the team at EAS to help provide insight on ways to protect your bore location.

Reliability:

These pumps are very low maintenance, generally with a 10-15 year lifespan, with the infrastructure supporting the pump around 20-30 years. Some of the pumps can be setup with certain parameters, allowing constant pressure and flow. They can be setup for various applications suiting either mains or low pressure systems.

If you have a bore pump water supply system that is faulting
or causing issues, EAS can provide assistance with electrical testing and troubleshooting.

Power Supply:
Your pump will require electricity to power it. Some applications may require a purpose-built pumping shed, complete with appropriate distribution valving, UV filtering, control equipment, general power & lighting.

EAS can provide you with a complete solution to installing a water bore on your property; from coordinating the drilling to setting up and installing your pump to ensure it is protected from power surges – giving you a long-term solution to your water needs.

To find out more, get in touch with the team on 07 834 0505 or [email protected]

Was your answer 19?

Check out the picture below for any you missed.

For more great riddles check out www.briddles.com

Well, Santa could just get rid of Rudolph but…

It sounds like Santa’s having a bad day with Rudolph. The Elf is afraid that that the reindeer will bite him, and without Santa around, Rudolph just can’t keep himself from eating the Snowman’s carrot nose.

What is Santa to do? He and his crew need to cross a bridge, but Santa has to act as a guide and cross with each one. This bridge is sure making his travels complicated! Darn that global warming!

Well, let’s think about it. On his first trip across, he has to take Rudolph with him, because he can’t leave the reindeer with either of the other two. Who knows what would happen to them?

So, you get the Snowman and the Elf on one side and Rudolph on the other. Santa comes back to the original side and now has a problem, because neither the Elf nor the Snowman wants to travel across to be alone with Rudolph. Santa, being the persuasive guy that he is, convinces one of them (let’s say the Elf) to cross with him. He has a solution, you see.

When he and the Elf get to Rudolph’s side of the bridge, the Elf is looking particularly worried. Santa tells him not to fret — he’s going to take Rudolph back with him.

He and Rudolph travel back together towards the Snowman — Rudolph has lots of energy from resting all year long, so he doesn’t get tired. This time, Santa travels across the bridge with the Snowman, leaving Rudolph behind on the first side and pairing the Elf and the Snowman together on the second side.

Santa has just two trips left to make. He travels back alone along the bridge, collects Rudolph and then everyone joins up together at the far side of the bridge.

Source: http://thescienceexplorer.com/universe/can-you-solve-christmas-puzzle