Experimental investigation on the sensitivity of an industrial process to voltage dips

A voltage dip is an important power quality (PQ) disturbance mainly caused by short-circuit faults. It can cause malfunctioning of sensitive equipment that can lead to the disruption of industrial processes, which usually results in substantial financial losses. One way to solve the problems caused by voltage dips is to identify the weak parts of a process and make the manufacturing process more robust against voltage dips. This paper discusses the sensitivity of a simple industrial process, which consists of a contactor in series with an adjustable speed drive connected to a load, based on experimental tests. The immunity of the sensitive devices to voltage dips are first tested under different conditions, and then compared with the immunity of the process to see the influence of the weak parts on the process. This approach can give insight into setting the limits for voltage dips.