BULETINUL INSTITUTULUI POLITEHNIC DIN IAŞI

Publicat de
Universitatea Tehnică „Gheorghe Asachi” din Iaşi
Tomul LX (LXIV), Fasc. 1, 2014
Secţia
ELECTROTEHNICĂ. ENERGETICĂ. ELECTRONICĂ

CURRENT MAINTENANCE USING GEOGRAPHICAL

INFORMATION SYSTEM, PART OF THE GLOBAL SMART-
GRID TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION

BY

SORINA COSTINAŞ1 and CIPRIAN NEMEŞ2,*

1
“Politehnica” University of Bucharest,
Faculty of Electrical Power Engineering,
2
“Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iaşi
Faculty of Electrical Engineering

Received: February 21, 2014

Accepted for publication: March 27, 2014

Abstract. The Electric Distribution Grid becomes more intelligent and

more complex. From the design phase to the exploitation phase, there are
different methods to approach the problems related to reliable, safe operating
substations. The link between these stages is – or should be – the maintenance
strategy applied to the electric energy distribution subsystem components. The
main aim of the paper is to present a case study regarding a way of implementing
a Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) program in an electric distribution
company using a Geographic Information System (GIS), as part of the global
smart-grid technology solution.
Key words: equipment evaluation; failure mode; geographic information
system; reliability centered maintenance; smart grid.

1. Introduction

As concepts like “maintenance” and “maintenance management”

evolved, there have been developed flexible methods, tools and techniques to
realize better economic improvement (Collier, 2010; Jiyuan & Borlase, 2009;
*
Corresponding author : e-mail: [email protected]
104 Sorina Costinaş and Ciprian Nemeş

Hassan, 2010; Ipakchi & Albuyeh, 2009; Mallet et al., 2014). A smart grid is a
re-engineering electrical grid that uses information and communication
technology for improve the efficiency, reliability and sustainability in power
engineering. The recognition that the relation between ageing and maintenance
is not simple, on one hand, and statistic studies showing that 80% of the lifetime
cycle cost is determined in the designing stage, on the other hand, led to a re-
evaluation of the traditional maintenance (Costinaş, 2007). Nowadays,
maintenance and diagnosis tasks can be simulated using prototypes or models,
failure analysis of safety-critical and mission-critical equipment in order to
guarantee the maintainability (Drescher, 2003; Cai & Chow, 2009). In regard to
the changes on the electric energy market it is imperious to put into practice the
outcomes of these studies. Integration is key to Smart Grid management
(Roncero, 2008).

2. Reliability Centred Maintenance. Overview

Maintenance has traditionally concentrated on preservation of

equipment while Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) removed its focus to
preservation of function. RCM considers not only the parameters describing the
reliability of each part of the equipment (conditional probability of failure,
failure rate, availability, reliability), but studies the dynamic behavior of the
electric distribution system. The change of effort from equipment preservation
to preservation of function led to critical operations monitoring and – as a
consequence – to critical equipment monitoring (Moubray, 1997; Tapper, 2003).

Fig.1 – The equipment evaluation with decision

diagram CALPOS®-Main.

A simplified model containing the steps to be followed for the

maintenance tasks selection was built by the Swedish experts, in order to
 Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LX (LXIV), f. 1, 2014 105

minimize the initial work for the network companies. The RCM strategy,
applied to an entire network, has been developed by EnBW (Germany) and
implemented in software named CALPOS®-Main (Wang et al., 2004). The
main procedure of RCM connects the evaluation of the equipment’s technical
condition with its importance within the network (Fig.1).
Because RCM’s goal is preservation of function, it is necessary to
create a hierarchy for the system’s functions, equipment’s and failure modes on
a failures consequences basis, in order to correctly assign maintenance budgets.
According to Cai & Chow, (2009), when the loss of a function occurs,
the effects of the failure may differ depending on one’s frame of reference
(local effects observed at the failure site; system effects are those impacts which
affect the substation or electrical system; remote effects are those effects on
equipment and systems outside the boundaries being analysed.
RCM’s goal is to classify likely failures as functional failures or
potential failures. The potential failure represents an identifiable physical state
indicating an impending functional failure.
The steps for RCM implementing are (Costinaş, 2007): identifying the
analysed system’s boundaries; analysing the operational context (substation’s
diagram of connections); identifying the equipment’s’ functions; building the
physical and functional diagram; identifying the specific failure modes;
analysing the failures’ consequences on the reliability of the power distribution
system; identifying the components that are critical to the operation of the
substation; analysing the failures’ features; selecting the tasks for the
maintenance team.

3. Geographic Information System. Overview

A generation of graphics software was developed – the Geographic

Information System (GIS) – in which the data are visualized, explored, queried
and analysed geographically (Longley, 2006).
GIS handles graphic and non-graphic data contained into a unique and
non-redundant database namely: spatial data, containing the geographic
location of features on the Earth’s surface (co-ordinates), connected with
alphanumeric descriptive data, stored in attributed tables; image data
(photographs, graphics, scanned documents) associated to spatial data; tabular
data in various formats, the SQL (Structured Query Language) access to
external databases being carried out according to the ODBC standard (Open
Database Connectivity).
A GIS provides capabilities to manage the connectivity of linear and
point facilities through a configurable set of graphic and logical rules that
defines how the electric network facilities connect to each other. Connectivity
rules provide definition in terms of what facilities can or cannot connect to
others, where they can connect and what actions are to be performed when they
connect. Most of the great electric energy generating, transmission and
distribution companies in the world – but especially the distribution companies
106 Sorina Costinaş and Ciprian Nemeş

– became dependent on using GIS, both for day-to-day network operating and
network extending planning or maintenance planning (Zorrilla, 2011; Ma et al.,
2011; Sinoda et al., 2012). That is why some GIS developers created dedicated
software modules for electric distribution.

4. Case Study: Using GIS for Electric Distribution Networks Maintenance

Planning

From over 950 substations with rated voltages of 35 ... 750 kV

operated in the Romanian energy system, about 90% are 110 kV substations.
Maintenance planning for electric distributed grid has two types of activities:
strategic planning and operational planning.
In this paper is presented a sample from a city’s electric distribution
network, starting with the 110 kV underground cables supplying a 110 kV/MV
substation, passing through the medium voltage distribution network and ending
with the consumers supplied at low voltage, showing how are related to one
another the objects representing equipment or electric lines.
The 110 kV underground cables displayed on the map in Fig. 2 are
represented as incoming circuits in the single wire diagram of the 110 kV/MV
substation. The correlation between these two graphic objects representing the
same physical object, is made through a unique identifier (ID).

Fig. 2 – Correlation between geographical representation of the 110 kV underground

cables and incoming circuit in the single wire diagram of the 110kV/MT substation.

The 110 kV busbar is connected to the medium voltage bus bar through
the substation’s 110 kV/MV transformer. The outgoing circuits of the
substation’s MV bus bar system have the same ID with the feeders supplying
the transformer points (Fig. 3).
 Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LX (LXIV), f. 1, 2014 107

Fig. 3 – The outgoing circuits of the substation’s feeder bays have the same ID with the
feeders supplying the transformer points.

Fig.4 – The low voltage (LV) outgoing circuits of the transformer point have the same
ID with the LV cables supplying the LV consumers.
108 Sorina Costinaş and Ciprian Nemeş

The feeders have the same ID with the medium voltage (MV) incoming
circuits of the transformer point. The LV outgoing circuits of the transformer
point (supplied through the MV/LV transformer) have the same ID with the LV
underground cables supplying the LV consumers (Fig.4).
In order to obtain an appropriate model of the electric distribution
network, there must be analysed each component’s function, as well as the
information required to define the component’s (status) (Hassan, 2010).
For example, switches allow current interruption to permit system
maintenance, redirecting current in case of emergency or to isolate system
failures. There are a number of steps to be followed for modeling a switch,
which is a critical element of the electric network:
1. Making a list of the processes and activities that a switch participates
in and how it is operated.
2. Describing in which way switches are used in the electric system.
3. Specifying the manufacturer’s data for the equipment (rated current,
rated voltage, breaking capacity, type, the manufacturer, etc.) and the operating
data of the equipment (installation date, position of the switch – normal and
present, a history of the maintenance task and repairs performed on the switch, a
history of incidents, a summary of the checking reports, technical revisions
reports, overhaul and rehabilitation reports for the equipment, etc.). Because
GIS provides a geographically oriented view for the facilities, there must be
made a difference between the map location and the physical item of equipment
installed in that location at a specific moment. A piece of equipment may be
installed in one location, removed (for different reasons), and then re-installed
in another location. In order to develop an efficient maintenance program, it is
important to keep an event history, both for the asset and for the facility
location.
Therefore, there must be an event history record between the facility
and the asset. Significant events include installation, removal, repair, inspection,
and maintenance activities. By associating these historical records with both the
facility and the asset (Cai & Choi, 2009) namely:
a) all maintenance work performed on a specific asset can be retrieved,
regardless of where it may have been installed;
b) all of the maintenance work performed at a facility location can be
retrieved, regardless of how many individual items of equipment have been
installed at the location.
Using a geographically oriented representation of the electrical
distribution network, an accurate study of different failure effects can be
performed – from both technical and economic points of view. Using the
electric network model, failure simulations can be performed, in order to create
a better hierarchy of the equipment – assessing the impact of equipment failures
on distribution network (unsupplied electric energy during breakdown,
identifying the affected geographical area). Another useful GIS application is
locating on the map the assets requiring inspection or maintenance work in
 Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LX (LXIV), f. 1, 2014 109

order to develop optimized scheduling and routing for the work to be

performed.

5. Conclusions
Fault detection, isolation, service restoration, integrated voltage/var
control, RCM is an efficient management tool. For now, RCM methods are not
used on a large scale by the electric energy transmission and distribution
companies, even if RCM’s efficiency is well known.
The implementation of RCM methods demands information about the
operating system and the potentially critical events. RCM performances allow
reducing the maintenance costs, without reducing the safety. That is why
companies from various fields adopted RCM for asset management, in order to
achieve their specific goals.
The effective use of a GIS coupled with a carefully designed asset
database can enhance the effectiveness of the operation and maintenance for the
electric distribution networks in many areas, such as:
a) keeping up to date the geographic database for the electric utilities;
b) tracking full asset lifecycle performance and history;
c) analysing routing for inspection and maintenance work;
d) getting information for asset management;
e) assessing the impact of equipment failures on distribution networks;
f) forming a basis for a more effective RCM program;
g) optimize grid operations and asset management by exchanging infor-
mation between RCM and GIS;
h) reduce the number of unplanned outages and minimize the impact of
all outages.

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MENTENANŢA UTILIZÂND SISTEMUL DE INFORMAŢII GEOGRAFICE, UNA

DINTRE SOLUŢIILE TEHNOLOGICE PENTRU REŢELE INTELIGENTE

(Rezumat)

Reţelele electrice de distribuţie devin din ce în ce mai inteligente şi mai

complexe. Intre faza de proiectare şi cea de exploatare, există metode diferite de
abordare a problemelor de fiabilitate şi de operare în siguranţă a staţiilor electrice.
Legătura dintre acestea este, sau ar trebui să fie, strategia de mentenanţă aplicată
componentelor reţelei de distribuţie. Principalul scop al articolului este de a prezenta, pe
un studiu de caz, implementarea unui program de memtenanţă centrată pe fiabilitate
utilizând o altă aplicaţie – sistemul de informaţii geografice, ca parte a soluţiilor
tehnologice globale pentru reţele inteligente.