Design and implementation of a

remote monitoring system and

reliability analysis for distribution
feeders in Sri Lanka

ENG/13/016 IADW Bandara

Supervisor: Mr. S. Bogahawatte

Instructor: Mr. T. Karunathilaka

ENG/13/017 SLD De Silva

ENG/13/018 RCA Rathnathilaka
ENG/13/049 WGS De Soysa

Introduction to problem situation

LECO is in the process of introducing an underground LV distribution network to
Nugegoda area.
Power is distributed within the LV networks radially through feeder pillars
LV systems are supplied power by 11 kV Ring Feeders.
Issues faced by LECO
Currently load on each 11 kV ring section is calculated manually by sending a
technician to measure load at each transformer in the ring.
MV side direct measuring of load is not economical
System reliability parameters such as SAIDI and SAIFI is calculated manually using
transformer data manually
There is also no way of knowing about a LV side issues till a consumer complains:
Fuse blow out in a feeder pillar
Voltage sag or swell
Overload condition
It was required to develop a solution that address both LV and MV distribution issues

Feeder pillar

Overall project block diagram

I1+I2+
I3

I3

I2+I3
I1

I1 a

I2

I1 b

I2 a

I3

I2 b

I3a

GPRS

Load
Reliability indices
Power quality
Faults

Aims and outcomes

Aims
Studying distribution system of Sri Lanka.
Using LV side Developing of a system to monitor LV distribution at feeder pillars.
Testing the developed system in LECO area.
Studying of loss calculation in MV feeders and applying data obtained from feeder pillars to
perform loss calculations
Studying how to calculate reliability parameters of the system using data obtained.
Explore possibility of applying this solution to the CEB distribution system

Outcomes
Developing a hardware for the proposed monitoring unit
Software implementation for monitoring measured parameters
Monitoring the reliability of service and power quality of power supplied by utility.
Reduction of downtime of electricity service to customers
Calculate SAIDI and SAIFI levels.

Project Focus Areas

Gayani

Channa

Lahiru

Parameter
monitoring
device
programming

Communication
and Server

Power supply,
voltage
detection and
circuit
simulation

Hardware and
PCB design

Dhanushka

Communication and Server

Two servers are required
TCP server Collecting data from parameter monitoring devices
HTTP server Data analyzing and displaying for the user

Technologies used
Technology /
Framework/
Protocol

Where it is used

Reason for choosing

GPRS using TCP

Data transfer from parameter monitoring device to

main TCP server

Ease of integration of packet data with a

socket server. TCP is more reliable than
UDP

TCP server For handling data received from

parameter monitoring device

Asynchronous nature which lets handling

multiple clients at the same time

Integration of Express.js, MongoDB, Angular.js

HTTP server - used for handling replies to HTTP
requests sent from the client side

Best framework to build APIs with

Node.js

Database management

Unstructured data storage

Client side HTTP to view data in the database by a

web browser

Extended support for integration with

Node.js and MongoDB

TCP server
TCP server was programmed
using Node.js
Can handle many client requests
in parallel due to asynchronous
programming
MongoDB was used to store all
incoming data from the devices
Client programme was written to
simulate a device using Node.js
Data retrieval and storing
complete
Fault recording needs to be
programmed

8
Basic TCP server algorithm

How time series data is stored in

database?
Periodic data which is a function of time is called Time series data

Document structure for a record of one hour

Current database structure of the system

Problems and solutions

Problems

Solutions

Selection of a language to program the TCP server

Tried and tested C#, Java and Node.js to select the

best

Providing access to a port of the server through

internet

Contacted the ISP to request a public IP address to the

router

Testing the server capability to handle multiple clients

Wrote a Node.js programme to emulate a client and

executed copies of it at the same time

Data processed through TTL to Serial converter was

observed to be distorted when read from
Hyperterminal when baud rate was 115200

Baud rate was reduced below 57600

When data was sent from GPRS gateway to server,

data is distorted

The proposed solution for this are:

Checking if the converter gives proper output
voltage
Testing if SIM900A module can be used for this
purpose

10

Parameter monitoring device

Current
Voltage
Real Power

Power factor
Energy

11

Block diagram of the monitoring device

Components

Tes
ted
/
Si
mu
lat

ed

Des
ign
ed
Pro
tot
ype

Interf
aced
with
Ardui
no

ADE7758
support circuit

Voltage detector
circuit

Power supply
unit for 5V and
9V

LCD Display

Real Time Clock

8 to 1 shift
register circuit

12

ADE7758 calibration
Voltage

Current

Register value of the voltage register was

obtained for voltages varying from 0V to
240V through a variable resistor
Register values were plotted against actual
values for calibration

250
f(x) = 0x - 2.21

200

For initial testing we selected SCT 013 current

sensor (0-100A)
Using the SCT sensor register values were
checked in order to detect whether values can be
obtained through the current register
For calibration, several known loads were
measured from the KDU electrical generator
room.
80
70
f(x) = 0x - 0.53

60
50

150

40
100

30
20

50

10
0

500000

1000000

1500000

Register value vs Real Voltage

500000

1000000

1500000

Register value vs Real Current

13

Testing and calibration of prototype

Calibrating voltage

Current calibration for a small load

Current calibration for large

loads at KDU generator room

14

Problems and solutions

Problems

Solution

Inconsistency of data obtained from ADE7758 IC. Issue

seemed to be due to communication errors.

Using tightly fitting jumper cables. Permanent solution

for this is to use screw or a shield.

delay() function freeze the microcontroller for the

delay period preventing parallel tasks

Used Millis() which lets parallel processing while

providing delay functionality

When no input was provided, some value was shown

during some instances. Only default values were
shown

When there is a no input due to the interference

register values vary and offset calibration was needed

Values varied with the voltage only when GND

connection was removed

Had to use separate ground planes for each of the

analog and digital grounds

When increasing the voltages after 150V the register

value becomes consistent

Analog GND and Digital ground was separated with a

zero resistor to prevent the surges

15

Power supply,
voltage detection
and circuit
simulation

16

Power supply circuits designed

Schematic and PCB diagram of 5v power supply

Schematic and PCB diagram of 9v power supply

17

Simulation and prototype fuse of blown

detector circuit

Simulation of fuse blown finder circuit

Prototype of the of fuse blown detector circuit

18

Connecting voltage detector circuits

together

How voltage detection circuits are arranged

19

Problems and solutions

Problems

Solutions

It was required to come up with a compact solution

without using conventional power supplies for fuse
blown indication circuit

Designed a transformer-less power supply

Electrical isolation was required for the fuse blown

detector circuit from the microcontroller

An opto-coupler was introduced at the communication

terminal.

Simulated fuse blown indicator circuit did not perform

well when practically implemented.

Practically changed resistor and capacitor values till a

fine tuned result was obtained.

The voltage regulator ICs(LM7805 and LM7809)initially

used in the power supply was not able to withstand the
required load conditions.

The circuit was modified with LM2576 and K7809

Inputting 21 fuse blown circuit outputs to the Arduino

was not practically feasible

Introduced a circuit which uses 3 numbers of a 8 bit

parallel to serial shift register (74HC165N) which
reduces the inputs.

20

Hardware and PCB

design

21

PCB Design
Software used
PCB wizard
Cadsoft Eagle

PCB were designed for

Power supply circuits: 5V and 9V
Support circuit for ADE7758
Voltage detection circuit for fuses

PCB to be designed
Arduino shields
Support circuit for ADE7880 (Harmonics measurement)
Shift register circuit
Final prototype

Standards specified in IEC 60950-1 were used to find

Clearances - Minimum of 5 mm between phase conductor and the ground
plane (Table G.2)

Prototype of ADE7758
support circuit

22

ADE7758 energy metering circuit

Analog Ground
AGND

Digital Ground
DGND

Separate ground planes were

provided for analog, digital and
neutral planes for minimizing
interferences.
These planes were then
connected at one point using a
low impedance resistor

SPI
communication
Current
inputs

Analog Ground for

neutral
Neutral

Voltage inputs

23

Shift register for fuse blown detector

circuits
Since there are 21 voltage detector circuits,
it is not feasible to input all the outputs of 21
circuits to the Arduino directly.
All those inputs are sent to Arduino through
3 shift registers to reduce the number of
inputs to the microcontroller

Schematic of 3 shift register

circuit

24

Problems and solutions

Problems

Solutions

Using auto-routing to the PCB of ADE7758 IC resulted in

a messed up circuit

Manually routed all the components of the PCB and

manually setup all the 3 ground planes with proper
clearances

Etching process using toner transfer method was not

successful in many instances due to toner not
transferring well to copper surface

Had to use moderate intensity toner printouts.

Etching process took a long time which damaged the

narrowest paths

Increased the amount of copper on the boards layout

during PCB design stage

Soldering the 24 pin surface mouthing IC was not an

easy task without using any special equipment

Before soldering the real IC, I practiced soldering several

another SMD IC till I was able to solder the real one

25

Timeline and progress

26

Way forward..
Gayani

Parameter monitoring Calibration to obtain

device programming
kW and kWh

Lahiru

Communication and
Server

Channa

Power supply, voltage

detection and circuit
simulation

Dhanushka

Hardware and
PCB design

Program for power

quality measurements

Develop HTTP server

to display time series
data

Studying and
calculating Reliability
Indices by program

TCP server
Fault data handling

Complete the design

Assemble all circuits to
Research
of all prototype
one package
use of ADE
circuits
7880 for
measuring
Design PCB for rest
THD
Physical design of
of the circuitry
remotely
outdoor equipment
including shift register

Final
Feeder
Pillar
Monitoring
System

27

Questions?

28

THANK YOU

29