Electrical Control Circuits and Equipment: Applications and Troubleshooting (Practical Approach)

Introduction

There is a chasm between the theory of electron flow, magnetic fields, and troubleshooting electrical equipment and control circuits in the plant. This intensive course shows participants how to troubleshoot electrical equipment and control circuits. The course helps individuals and employers. It does this by increasing all participant’s knowledge and skills in improving equipment productivity whilst reducing maintenance costs.

Attendance on this course will help all participants identify, prevent, and fix common electrical equipment and control circuits. The focus is “outside the box”. The emphasis is on practical issues that go beyond typical electrical theory and focus on providing those that attend with the necessary tool-kit of skills in solving electrical problems, ranging from control circuits to motors and variable speed drives. This course focuses on the main issues of troubleshooting electrical equipment and control circuits of today to enable the participants to walk onto their plant or facility to troubleshoot and fix problems as quickly as possible.

Objectives

Upon the successful completion of the workshop, each participant will be able to:-

• Troubleshoot electrical equipment and control circuits
• Diagnose electrical problems “right first time”
• Reduce downtime

Training Methodology

This is an interactive course. There will be open question and answer sessions, regular group exercises and activities, videos, case studies, and presentations on best practice. Participants will have the opportunity to share with the facilitator and other participants on what works well and not so well for them, as well as work on issues from their own organizations. The online course is conducted online using MS-Teams/ClickMeeting.

Who Should Attend?

This course is designed for personnel who want to understand the design and engineering principles involved in process plant layout and piping design. Those who will benefit the most from this course include the following; Consulting engineers, Electrical and electronics engineers, Electricians, Maintenance engineers, Plant maintenance personnel, Production managers, and Project engineers.

Course Outline

Day 1: MODULE 01: TYPES OF PROBLEMS

• Introduction
• Problems and their genesis
• Problem categories

MODULE 02: TROUBLESHOOTING FUNDAMENTALS

• Basics of troubleshooting
• Drawings
• Documentation and historical records
• Skill sets for troubleshooting
• Relationships between the early resolution of problems and plant productivity

MODULE 03: USE OF APPROPRIATE INSTRUMENTS

• Instruments for troubleshooting
• Insulation tester (Megger)
• Continuity testers
• Voltage indicator
• Multimeter
• Clamp-on meters
• Ohm-meter and duster
• Special instruments

DAY 2: MODULE 04: TROUBLESHOOTING ROTATING ELECTRICAL MACHINES

• Basic principles of electrical machines
• Rotating machines - AC
• Rotating machines - DC

MODULE 05: TROUBLESHOOTING TRANSFORMERS

• Basic principles
• Transformer failures
• Monitoring of transformer parameters and oil properties
• Early warning of internal failures
• Use of dissolved gas analysis for problem detection
• Use of partial discharge detection/measurements
• Use of furan analysis/degree of polymerization tests for residual life prediction
• Failures in auxiliary systems and tap changers
• Case studies of typical transformer failures, analysis, and remedial measures

Day 3: MODULE 06: TROUBLESHOOTING CABLE PROBLEMS

• Construction of HV and LV cables (overview)
• Joints and terminations
• Types of cable failures and reasons
• Detecting cable failures
• Prevention of failures by proper jointing/termination quality and by periodic testing
• Use of thermo-graph for hot spot detection
• Case studies of typical failures and detection

MODULE 07: TROUBLESHOOTING OF SWITCHGEAR AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS

• Overview of HV, MV, and LV switchgear
• Basics of circuit breakers
• Problems faced in power circuits of panels, remedies, and prevention
• Problems faced in circuit breakers
• Problems caused by bad contacts
• Internal short circuits due to rodents
• Problems due to dust accumulation
• Useful role of thermo-graphic examination in pre-empting problems
• Case studies of failures/malfunctions and remedial measures

Day 4: MODULE 08: PROBLEMS CAUSED BY POOR POWER QUALITY

• Overview of power quality
• Effects of poor power quality on equipment
• Voltage limits and equipment tolerance
• Power factor and its effects
• Problems due to frequency drifts
• Voltage unbalance (negative sequence)
• Harmonics (waveform distortion) and its effects on equipment

MODULE 09: PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ELECTRICAL CONTROL CIRCUITS

• Devices and symbols
• Language of control circuits
• Reading and understanding electrical drawings
• Reading and understanding ladder logic
• Wire and terminal numbering
• Motor control circuits
• Motor control strategies
• Problems due to incorrect wiring
• Problems due to poor terminal connections and contacts
• Problems in power and control (Auxillary) contactors
• Tracking problems using drawings and continuity/voltage tester
• Precautions while performing insulation tests on control circuits

Day 5: MODULE 10: TROUBLESHOOTING PLCs

• Principles of programmable control
• Programming tools
• Typical controls using PLC
• Problems experienced in PLC controls
• Use of status lamps in I/O cards to troubleshoot
• Rectification approach
• Internal failures and diagnostics

MODULE 11: TROUBLESHOOTING POWER ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT

• Power electronic devices
• Power electronic applications in industry
• AC variable speed drive fundamentals
• Controllers used for power electronic equipment
• Device failures and checking of devices using simple instruments
• Common problems faced in power electronic equipment, reasons and remedial measures
• Examples/case studies