Electrical Power Quality and the Challenges Faced by Power Assemblies Applications in Petrochemical Industry

The use of power switchgear and controlgear assemblies in typical electrical power distribution systems of petrochemical industries, both in medium voltage and low voltage levels, has faced different challenges related to their specification and operation in order to deliver solutions that ensure the quality of electricity to be distributed. Many of these problems are related to the equipment used for both switching and protection. Components such as circuit breakers, protective relays, current transformers, and voltage transformers require careful analysis of the electrical system in question. The philosophies adopted for electrical protection, type of neutral grounding, and topographic conditions (arrangement) of the circuits can create conditions, which are unacceptable from the point of view of electrical power quality. Currently, in many of the analyses related to power quality in electrical installations, basic care in the definition and use of the internal components of the power assemblies is often not considered. This paper discusses actual case studies of different power assemblies installations in the industry, aiming in this way to introduce basic guidelines that can help in the specification and installation of new equipment or modernization of existing equipment for industrial facilities.