Circuit health monitoring system and method
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- at least two capacitive elements connected in parallel;
at least two current control devices coupled to said at least two capacitive elements; and
a monitor that compares a measured value corresponding to a total capacitance of said at least two capacitive elements with a baseline and indicates a failed capacitive element in the system if the measured value differs from the baseline.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method that provides early warning of a capacitor failure before it causes a functional failure by including a plurality of redundant capacitive elements arranged in parallel in a capacitor module. A monitor measures a value corresponding to the total capacitance of the module under a selected system operating condition to obtain a baseline value. During system operation, the monitor compares a measured value with the baseline. If any of the capacitive elements in the module fails in an open state or a shorted state, the measured value will differ respect to the baseline, but the remaining capacitive elements allow the system to continue to operate. The user can therefore replace the failed capacitor as part of scheduled maintenance, reducing maintenance and operating costs caused by unexpected, unscheduled maintenance.
193 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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at least two capacitive elements connected in parallel;
at least two current control devices coupled to said at least two capacitive elements; and
a monitor that compares a measured value corresponding to a total capacitance of said at least two capacitive elements with a baseline and indicates a failed capacitive element in the system if the measured value differs from the baseline. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An electric power distribution system, comprising:
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a module comprising a plurality of capacitive elements connected in parallel;
a plurality of current control devices, each current control device associated with one of said plurality of capacitive elements to form an open circuit if current through one of said plurality of capacitive elements exceeds at least one of a selected level and a selected duration; and
a monitor that compares a measured value corresponding to a total capacitance of said plurality of capacitive elements with a baseline and indicates a failed capacitive element in the system if the measured value falls below the baseline. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of monitoring a circuit, comprising:
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obtaining a baseline corresponding to a desired total capacitance of a module having a plurality of capacitive elements connected in parallel;
comparing a measured value with the baseline; and
indicating a failed capacitive element in the circuit if the measured value differs from the baseline. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification