Recently, a large power supply company in Central China successfully completed the renovation project of high current switchgear. With the restoration and transmission of power to 12 substations one by one, this massive renovation project that took 6 years came to a successful conclusion.
ABB Electrical Services, with its excellent professional capabilities, tailored a high current switchgear renovation plan for this project, becoming an important support for promoting the success of the project. The transformation results have significantly improved the stability and safety of the power supply system, effectively promoting the regional electricity quality to a new height.
With the development of the Chinese economy, the demand for electricity is growing rapidly. According to the National Energy Administration's "2023 Electricity Consumption Data Statistics for the Whole Society," the total electricity consumption in 2023 was 9224.1 billion kilowatt hours, a year-on-year increase of 6.7%, of which 8909.1 billion kilowatt hours were generated by industrial enterprises above designated size. With the increasing electricity load in urban centers and large industrial enterprises, the application of high current switchgear with a rated current of 3150A or more has become increasingly common.
Risk of equipment overheating
During the operation of switchgear, heat generation is a continuous accumulation process. As the current increases, the heat generation will gradually intensify, and the temperature rise of the switchgear will gradually increase, which will bring unforeseeable hidden dangers to the switchgear. For example, metal materials become soft due to annealing caused by overheating, leading to a sharp decrease in mechanical strength, deformation or damage, resulting in an increase in contact resistance at connection points and a rise in the temperature of switchgear.
Meanwhile, long-term overheating can accelerate the aging of insulation materials and significantly shorten their lifespan. There is a clear conclusion in GB/T 20112-2015 that "for most EIS, the lifespan is halved when the temperature rise is between 8K and 15K". The decrease or failure of insulation performance can also induce creepage and flashover phenomena, which in turn trigger short-circuit faults in switchgear.
ABB OneFit ® Easy replacement service
-Innovative solution for abnormal temperature rise of high current switchgear
To solve the problem of abnormal temperature rise in old high current switchgear, ABB Electrical Services has launched a service solution that uses non-standard customized high current switchgear to directly replace or splice with the original switchgear, completely eliminating the hidden danger of abnormal temperature rise.
Due to the differences in size and structure between switch equipment from different manufacturers and ABB high current switch equipment, standard ABB high current switch equipment is difficult to directly replace or splice with the original switch equipment. Therefore, ABB Electrical Services customized the cabinet of ABB high current switch equipment based on the structure and size of the original switch equipment, accurately matching the requirements of the original switch equipment's main busbar structure, foundation specifications, primary and secondary line opening positions, grounding bar layout, busbar bridge interface, etc., to ensure that the new switch equipment is consistent with the original switch equipment's structure and size. Non standard customized switchgear can be directly replaced or spliced with the original switchgear without the need for a transition cabinet.
This service solution minimizes on-site foundation renovation, re laying of primary and secondary cables, redesign and production of busbar bridges, and other work processes as much as possible. While saving investment costs, it can also greatly shorten power outage time.
In addition, during the process of renovating high current switchgear, ABB PowerCare provides digital upgrade services for switchgear through worry free operation and maintenance. This solution has powerful functions of exclusive butler, full lifecycle management, and equipment health management. It can use intelligent sensors to monitor the real-time status of equipment, quantify the health status of equipment using ABB's proprietary algorithms, and predict potential risks in advance.
Based on accurate understanding of equipment status, ABB PowerCare worry free maintenance can dynamically adjust maintenance plans and provide users with professional equipment maintenance advice.
At the same time, it also focuses on improving the archiving and organization of drawing materials, detailed recording of equipment upgrades and renovations, and providing comprehensive and powerful support for the full lifecycle management of equipment, ensuring worry free operation throughout the entire lifecycle.
Program value
Efficient operation: Before the renovation, on-site surveys do not require power outages, and production operations are not disrupted. After the renovation, the equipment performance will be improved, hidden dangers will be eliminated, and the equipment failure rate will be reduced.
Cost reduction: Customized design, no need to transfer transition cabinets/bus bridges, seamless on-site splicing of new and old switchgear. Extend the overall service life of the substation and greatly save the entire lifecycle management cost of the station.
Shorten power outage time: Utilize existing facilities such as old foundations, primary and secondary cables, bus bridges, feeder cabinets, etc., without the need for renovation or re laying on site, significantly reducing on-site power outage construction time.
Digital empowerment: With the support of digital technology, the intelligent transformation of equipment operation and maintenance from passive prevention to active prediction is achieved, greatly improving the level of equipment management.
Up to now, ABB Electrical Services has successfully retrofitted over 500 large current switchgear, covering more than 60 different brands and models, providing excellent retrofitting services for users in various fields such as power supply companies, petrochemicals, power plants, heavy industry, ports, and mining.