Apparatus and method for monitoring power and current flow
First Claim
1. An apparatus for remotely measuring current in an electrical line, said apparatus comprising:
- a magnetic transducer to convert magnetic field of said current at a location remote to said electrical line into a magnetically transduced signal;
first conditioning circuitry coupled to said magnetic transducer to prepare said magnetically transduced signal for analysis;
an electrical transducer to convert electric field of said electrical line at a location remote to said electric line into a reference signal;
second conditioning circuitry coupled to said electrical transducer to prepare said reference signal for analysis, said reference signal being synchronized to a frequency of a power system to which said electrical line is connected;
a first measuring circuit coupled to said first conditioning circuitry to evaluate magnitude of said magnetically transduced signal; and
a second measuring circuit coupled to said first and second conditioning circuitries to evaluate a phase angle between said magnetically transduced signal and said reference signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention discloses a method for remotely monitoring the magnitude and direction of net electrical power and current flow to or from a facility over a prolonged period of time. An apparatus that accomplishes this monitoring activity is also disclosed. The apparatus comprises at least one device for detecting and measuring the magnetic field emanating from the monitored line(s), and another device for detecting a signal synchronized to the power system frequency, typically the electric field, emanating from the power lines. The apparatus also comprises a device for evaluating, storing, and transmitting the data on the electromagnetic (EM) fields that are recorded.
30 Citations
42 Claims
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1. An apparatus for remotely measuring current in an electrical line, said apparatus comprising:
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a magnetic transducer to convert magnetic field of said current at a location remote to said electrical line into a magnetically transduced signal;
first conditioning circuitry coupled to said magnetic transducer to prepare said magnetically transduced signal for analysis;
an electrical transducer to convert electric field of said electrical line at a location remote to said electric line into a reference signal;
second conditioning circuitry coupled to said electrical transducer to prepare said reference signal for analysis, said reference signal being synchronized to a frequency of a power system to which said electrical line is connected;
a first measuring circuit coupled to said first conditioning circuitry to evaluate magnitude of said magnetically transduced signal; and
a second measuring circuit coupled to said first and second conditioning circuitries to evaluate a phase angle between said magnetically transduced signal and said reference signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for remotely measuring current in an electrical line, comprising the steps of:
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placing an apparatus comprising a magnetic transducer in proximity to said electrical line;
receiving magnetic field emanating from said electrical line with said magnetic transducer; and
processing said magnetic field to determine a magnitude of said current in the electrical line. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for measuring electrical power dynamics of a facility, comprising the steps of:
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placing at least one apparatus comprising a magnetic transducer and an electric transducer in proximity to at least one electrical line connected to the facility;
receiving electric and magnetic fields of said at least one electric line with said at least one apparatus;
extracting data relating to a magnitude of said magnetic field and a phase difference between said electric and magnetic fields from said electric and magnetic fields;
determining magnitude information of said current in the at least one electric line using said data; and
relaying said magnitude information to an end-user. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. An apparatus for remotely measuring current in an electrical line, said apparatus comprising:
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a magnetic transducer to convert magnetic field of said current at a location remote to said electrical line into a magnetically transduced signal;
first conditioning circuitry coupled to said magnetic transducer, said first conditioning circuitry comprising at least a first amplifier and a first filter, which are serially coupled, said first conditioning circuitry for preparing said magnetically transduced signal for analysis;
an electrical transducer to convert electric field of said current at a location remote to said electric line into a reference signal;
second conditioning circuitry coupled to said electrical transducer to prepare said reference signal for analysis;
said second conditioning circuitry comprising at least a second amplifier, said second conditioning circuitry for preparing said reference signal for analysis;
a first measuring circuit coupled to said first conditioning circuitry to evaluate magnitude of said magnetically transduced signal;
a second measuring circuit coupled to said second conditioning circuitry to evaluate a phase angle between said magnetically transduced signal and said reference signal; and
a data storage device coupled to said first and second measuring circuits to store data relating to said magnitude and said phase angle. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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34. A method for remotely measuring current in an electrical line, said method comprising:
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converting magnetic field of said current at a location remote to said electrical line into a magnetically transduced signal;
conditioning said magnetically transduced signal into a conditioned magnetically transduced signal;
conditioning a reference signal into a conditioned reference signal;
measuring magnitude of said conditioned magnetically transduced signal;
measuring a phase angle between said conditioned magnetically transduced signal and said conditioned reference signal;
transmitting said magnitude and said phase angle to a central facility;
determining information representing direction and magnitude of said current in said line from said magnitude and said phase angle, at said control facility;
relaying said information to an end user.
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35. An apparatus for remotely measuring current in an electrical line, said apparatus comprising:
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a magnetic transducer to convert magnetic field of said current at a location remote to said electrical line into a magnetically transduced signal;
first conditioning circuitry coupled to said magnetic transducer to prepare said magnetically transduced signal for analysis;
a first measuring circuit coupled to said first conditioning circuitry to evaluate magnitude of said magnetically transduced signal;
second conditioning circuitry to prepare a reference signal for analysis, said reference signal being synchronized to a frequency of a power system to which said electrical line is connected; and
a second measuring circuit coupled to said second conditioning circuitry to evaluate a phase angle between said magnetically transduced signal and said reference signal. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method for providing information relating to current in an electrical line to a remote end user, comprising the steps of:
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placing an apparatus comprising a magnetic transducer in proximity to said electrical line;
receiving magnetic field emanating from said electrical line with said magnetic transducer, receiving an electrical signal synchronized to power system frequency with said apparatus;
processing said magnetic field and said electrical signal to determine said information relating to said current in the line; and
transmitting said information to said remote end user.
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Specification