MOISTURE MONITORING SYSTEM

• US 20130215548A1
• Filed: 02/20/2013
• Published: 08/22/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Franklin Fueling Systems LLC
• Original Assignee: Franklin Fueling Systems Incorporated (EBW, Inc.)
• Inventors: Eastman, John, Shaver, Steven Carl
• Granted Patent: US 10,883,948 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 361/115
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/048 for determining moisture content of the material
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/327 Testing of circuit interrupters, switches or circuit-breakers
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 33/563 comprising means for monitoring the density of the insulating gas
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 33/59 Circuit arrangements not adapted to a particular application of the switch and not otherwise provided for, e.g. for ensuring operation of the switch at a predetermined point in the ac cycle

Abstract

A monitoring system for an enclosure having an arc quenching gas includes at least one fluid characteristic sensor in fluid communication with an interior the enclosure, and an electronic controller operatively coupled to the at least one fluid characteristic sensor. The electronic controller forecasts a maintenance event based on values received from the at least one fluid characteristic sensor.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring a circuit breaker having a first conductive element and a second conductive element moveable relative to the first conductive element, the first conductive element and the second conductive element cooperating to provide a closed state that permits an electrical current to flow between the first conductive element and the second conductive element and an open state wherein the first conductive element is spaced apart from the second conductive element, the first conductive element and the second conductive element being positioned in an interior of an enclosure including an arc quenching gas, the method comprising the steps of:

positioning at least one fluid characteristic sensor in fluid communication with the interior of the enclosure;

monitoring a relative humidity of the interior of the enclosure with the at least one fluid characteristic sensor; and

forecasting a maintenance event of the circuit breaker based on the relative humidity.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of comparing the relative humidity of the interior of the enclosure to a predetermined threshold value.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of controlling the state of the first and second conductive elements when the relative humidity of the interior of the enclosure is greater than the predetermined threshold value.

4. A method of monitoring conditions within an interior of an enclosure of a circuit breaker, the enclosure including a first conductive element and a second conductive element moveable relative to the first conductive element, the method comprising the steps of:

introducing a fluid containing an arc-quenching gas into the interior of the enclosure;

monitoring relative humidity of the fluid within the interior of the enclosure;

comparing the relative humidity of the fluid to a predetermined threshold value; and

maintaining a flow of the fluid into the interior of the enclosure when the relative humidity of the fluid is less than the predetermined threshold value.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein at least one fluid characteristic sensor is configured to cooperate with an electronic controller to measure the relative humidity of the fluid during the monitoring step.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one fluid characteristic sensor is a moisture sensor.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one fluid characteristic sensor includes a temperature sensor and density sensor.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of calculating the relative humidity of the fluid from data of the temperature sensor and data from the density sensor.

9. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of monitoring a density of the fluid within the interior of the enclosure.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of discontinuing the flow of the fluid into the interior of the enclosure when the density of the fluid is greater than a predetermined threshold value.

11. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of monitoring an amount of moisture in the fluid when introducing the fluid into the interior of the enclosure.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of receiving the fluid from a gas supply vendor and adjusting a consideration to the gas supply vendor when the amount of moisture in the fluid is greater than a predetermined threshold amount.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the consideration is a payment.

14. A circuit breaker system, comprising:

an enclosure having at least a first conductive element and a second conductive element;

an arc quenching gas within an interior of the enclosure and generally surrounding the first and second conductive elements; and

a monitoring system comprising;

a housing configured to receive a fill gas and further configured to flow the fill gas to the enclosure;

at least one fluid characteristic sensor supported by the housing; and

an electronic controller configured to receive a signal from the at least one fluid characteristic sensor to determine at least one moisture characteristic of the arc quenching gas.

15. The circuit breaker system of claim 14, wherein the monitoring system is further configured to determine at least one of a density within the interior of the enclosure and a fault arc energy of the first and second conductive elements.

16. The circuit breaker system of claim 15, wherein the at least one fluid characteristic sensor includes a moisture sensor.

17. A monitoring system for an enclosure including an arc quenching gas, the monitoring system comprising:

a moisture sensor in fluid communication with an interior of the enclosure; and

an electronic controller operatively coupled to the moisture sensor, the electronic controller forecasting a maintenance event based on values received from the moisture sensor.

18. The monitoring system of claim 17, wherein the moisture sensor is configured to measure a relative humidity of the interior of the enclosure.

19. The monitoring system of claim 18, wherein the moisture sensor is configured to measure a temperature of the interior of the enclosure.

20. The monitoring system of claim 19, wherein the measured relative humidity of the interior of the enclosure is compared to a predetermined relative humidity threshold value.

21. The monitoring system of claim 20, further comprising an alarm configured to indicate when the measured relative humidity value is greater than the predetermined relative humidity threshold value.

22. The monitoring system of claim 21, wherein the electronic controller is electronically coupled to the remote device and provides an indication of the alarm to a remote device.

23. The monitoring system of claim 21, wherein the monitoring system is provided on a circuit breaker assembly and the controller is configured to prevent the circuit breaker assembly from switching between an open state and a closed state when the measured relative humidity value is greater than the predetermined relative humidity threshold.

24. The monitoring system of claim 20, wherein the threshold value is between approximately 0.5%-2.0%.

25. The monitoring system of claim 24, wherein the predetermined relative humidity threshold value varies with the measured temperature value.

26. The monitoring system of claim 20, further comprising a memory for storing the measured relative humidity values, wherein the monitoring system is configured to generate a forecast of when the measured relative humidity values will exceed the predetermined relative humidity threshold value.

27. The monitoring system of claim 26, wherein the measured temperature values of the interior of the enclosure are used to generate the forecast.

28. A monitoring system for an enclosure including an arc quenching gas, the monitoring system comprising:

a moisture sensor in fluid communication with an interior the enclosure;

a fill port for communicating arc quenching gas to an interior of the enclosure; and

an electronic controller operatively coupled to the moisture sensor, the electronic controller determining an occurrence of a fill event and determining a moisture characteristic of a fill gas of the fill event.

29. The monitoring system of claim 28, further comprising a housing having a base and a lid, wherein at least the moisture sensor is supported within the housing and the fill port is supported by the base.

30. The monitoring system of claim 29, wherein the fill port is configured to flow the fill gas into the enclosure, the enclosure containing a first conductive element and a second conductive element moveable relative to the first conductive element, the first conductive element and the second conductive element cooperating to provide a closed state that permits an electrical current to flow between the first conductive element and the second conductive element and an open state wherein the first conductive element is spaced apart from the second conductive element, and the first conductive element and the second conductive element being positioned in the interior of the enclosure.

31. The monitoring system of claim 30, wherein the fill gas flows past the moisture sensor when flowing from the fill port to the enclosure.

32. The monitoring system of claim 30, wherein the electronic controller receives a signal from the moisture sensor indicative of an amount of moisture in the fill gas.

33. The monitoring system of claim 32, wherein when the amount of moisture in the fill gas is greater than a predetermined moisture threshold, the monitoring system is configured to initiate at least one of an alarm signal and a signal to prevent the fill gas at the fill port from flowing into the enclosure.

34. The monitoring system of claim 28, wherein the monitoring system is configured to detect when a fill operation occurs by determining a change in density within the interior of the enclosure.