Modular equipment center distributed independent protections

• US 9,413,162 B2
• Filed: 10/11/2013
• Issued: 08/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Brouwer, Todd B., Dhondt, Jon J., Holley, Robert D., Thomas, Terrance L., Immanuel, Vikram D., Severns, Christopher M., Currier, Thomas F., Karimi, Kamiar J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jackson, Stephen W
• Application Number:
  US14/052,387
• Publication Number:
  US 20150103447A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,033 Days
• Field of Search: 361/78
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2221/00 Electric power distribution systems onboard aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: H02H 7/00 Emergency protective circuit arrangements specially adapted for specific types of electric machines or apparatus or for sectionalised protection of cable or line systems, and effecting automatic switching in the event of an undesired change from normal working conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/44 for aircrafts
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 4/00 Circuit arrangements for mains or distribution networks not specified as ac or dc

Abstract

Distributed electronic protections and control architecture enabling simultaneous fault clearance without conflicting fault isolation logic. A plurality of modular equipment centers (MECs) is spatially distributed throughout a vehicle to service equipment loads with power and data. In one embodiment, protective functions are embedded on integrated protection chipsets (IPCs) within the distributed architecture of the vehicle. The IPCs implement a plurality of protective functions where coordinated or independent fault assessments are performed.

Claims

1. A system for providing distributed protection for electrical systems within a vehicle, the system comprising:

a plurality of modular equipment centers (MECs) spatially distributed throughout the vehicle; and

a plurality of power controllers configured to implement protective functions by monitoring and controlling electrical systems within the vehicle, the plurality of power controllers comprising;

at least one respective power controller included within each MEC of the plurality of MECs, the at least one respective power controller configured to implement localized protective functions and to perform independent fault assessments, and

one or more other power controllers within the vehicle that are configured to perform coordinated fault assessments across the plurality of MECs,

wherein the plurality of power controllers are configured to concurrently implement the protective functions.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein each MEC of the plurality of MECs is configured to receive primary power and to distribute secondary power,

wherein the at least one respective power controller within each MEC comprises respective first and second power controllers, the first power controller configured for performing high power level protections associated with the primary power, and the second power controller configured for performing low power level protections associated with the secondary power.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein each MEC of the plurality of MECs is configured to receive primary power from another MEC of the plurality of MECs,

wherein the at least one respective power controller within each MEC comprises at least a first power controller configured for performing high power level protections associated with the primary power.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a power source configured to provide power to one or more of the plurality of MECs, the power source including a first power controller of the plurality of power controllers,

wherein the at least one respective power controller included within each MEC is configured to implement the localized protective functions independent of the first power controller of the power source.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the protective functions include at least one of a group of differential protection, ground fault protection, overvoltage protection, overcurrent protection, undercurrent protection, unbalanced current protection, open phase protection, corona fault detection, over temperature protection, and arc fault detection.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the protective functions include at least one of voltage sensing, current sensing, current transfer, voltage RMS/phase functionality, and impedance assessment.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one respective power controller included within each MEC is further configured to process fault clearances and corrective actions without communication from another MEC of the plurality of MECs.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a generator controller including a first power controller of the plurality of power controllers,

wherein the one or more other power controllers that are configured to perform coordinated fault assessments across the plurality of MECs include the first power controller.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein each power controller of the plurality of power controllers comprises an integrated protection chipset (IPC).

10. The system of claim 9, wherein at least one MEC of the plurality of MECs comprises a plurality of contactors, wherein a dedicated IPC is embedded on each contactor of the plurality of contactors.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein at least one MEC of the plurality of MECs comprises a plurality of contactors, wherein an IPC is multiplexed across the plurality of contactors.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more integrated protection chipsets (IPCs) implemented in a power distribution module of at least one MEC of the plurality of MECs.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more integrated protection chipsets (IPCs) implemented in a primary power switching network device of at least one MEC of the plurality of MECs.

14. A method for providing a distributed protection and control architecture for electrical systems of a vehicle, the method comprising:

distributing primary power generated by a power source to a plurality of modular equipment centers (MECs) that are spatially distributed throughout the vehicle;

distributing secondary power from each MEC of the plurality of MECs to respective equipment loads nearest each MEC;

performing, using a plurality of integrated protection chipsets (IPCs) providing electronic protective functions, high power level protections where each MEC receives the distributed primary power; and

independently performing, using the plurality of IPCs, low power level protections where secondary power is distributed from each MEC to the respective equipment loads.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein at least one MEC of the plurality of MECs receives the distributed primary power from another one of the plurality of MECs.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein performing high power level protections where each MEC receives the distributed primary power comprises coordinating fault assessments across the plurality of MECs.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein performing high power level protections where each MEC receives the distributed primary power comprises implementing differential protection between two or more of the plurality of MECs.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein at least one MEC of the plurality of MECs receives the distributed primary power from the power source, wherein performing high power level protections where each MEC receives the distributed primary power comprises implementing differential protection between a power generator of the power source and a primary MEC.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising sharing data digitally across one or more communication channels between the plurality of MECs for implementing differential protection.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein high power level protections and low power level protections are each performed by one or more respective IPCs of the plurality of IPCs that are associated with each MEC of the plurality of MECs.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein independently performing low power level protections is performed independent of one or more IPC of the plurality of IPCs that are associated with the power source.

22. The method of claim 14, further comprising communicating a status of protective functions implemented by a first IPC of the plurality of IPCs and included within a first MEC of the plurality of MECs, to one or more second IPCs of the plurality of IPCs and included within one or more other MECs of the plurality of MECs.

23. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

isolating a fault using a first IPC of the plurality of IPCs;

communicating, to one or more other IPCs of the plurality of IPCs, the isolation of the fault; and

expanding, responsive to the communication, a zone of protective functions of the one or more other IPCs.

24. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

defining a zone of protection associated with one or more IPCs of the plurality of IPCs; and

upon detecting a current mismatch within the zone, expanding the zone to include one or more other IPCs of the plurality of IPCs to isolate a fault associated with the current mismatch.

25. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

defining a zone of protection associated with one or more IPCs of the plurality of IPCs; and

upon a loss of power within the zone, expanding the zone to include one or more other IPCs of the plurality of IPCs to perform corresponding electronic protective functions.

26. The method of claim 14, wherein at least one of the high power level and low power level protections are performed by two or more IPCs of the plurality of IPCs that are operating in parallel, each of the two or more IPCs independently processing fault clearances and local corrective actions.

27. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining a distance to a fault by reflectometry impedance.

28. A system for providing distributed protection of electrical systems within a vehicle, the system comprising:

a plurality of modular equipment centers (MECs) spatially distributed throughout the vehicle;

one or more power sources configured to generate primary power for distribution to the plurality of MECs;

one or more respective equipment loads configured to be serviced by each MEC of the plurality of MECs; and

a plurality of integrated protection chipsets (IPCs) configured for monitoring and controlling electrical systems within the vehicle, each IPC configured to implement a plurality of protective functions corresponding to at least one MEC of the plurality of MECs,

wherein one or more IPCs of the plurality of IPCs are configured to perform independent fault assessments of the at least one MEC.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein one or more IPCs of the plurality of IPCs are each included within a respective one or more MECs of the plurality of MECs, wherein the one or more IPCs define a protection zone.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein, upon determining a loss of power to all or part of a first MEC of the plurality of MECs, the protection zone is expanded to include one or more additional IPCs of the plurality of IPCs that are included in a second MEC of the plurality of MECs to perform protective functions.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein one or more IPCs of the plurality of IPCs and located within a first MEC of the plurality of MECs each perform fault assessments based on information provided from other MECs of the plurality of MECs.