Most causes can be divided into two categories: Internal causes: A large percentage of electrical disturbances originate within a business facility. Potential culprits may include large equipment start-up or shutdown, improper wiring and grounding, overloaded circuits or harmonics. External causes: A small percent of power quality problems originate with the utility transmission and distribution system. The most common cause is a lightning strike; other possibilities include equipment failure, vehicle accidents, weather conditions, neighboring business, and even normal operation of utility equipment.
Power quality is vital because it affects a business in many aspects.
Lost production: Each time production is stopped, your company loses the margin on the product that is not manufactured and sold.
Damaged product: Stoppages can damage a partially complete product, and can cause the items to have to be scrapped.
Maintenance: Reacting to a voltage disruption can involve restoring production, diagnosing and correcting the problem and the man hours associated with this undertaking as well as the down time.
Hidden costs: If the impact of a voltage sag is a control error, this could cause a defect that may not be discovered until after customer receives it. The damage to a company’s reputation can be significant and hard to quantify.
Most electrical equipment is affected by variations in powering and grounding. High-tech equipment, such as computer networks and phone systems, are extremely sensitive and susceptible to damage.
Sophisticated monitoring and testing are usually required to isolate the specific type of disturbance and pinpoint the cause. A thorough power quality investigation might include:
