Manufactured protection and control: A modular approach to installing protection and control

Modular protection and control using process bus is really only the first step in modular design of substations. Once the field wiring problem for protection and control systems is solved, then the design of substations can be addressed. Some examples of where the industry can go when are as follows. This paper discusses one possible method to design the protection and control system for replacement. Manufactured protection and control uses the concepts of process bus to factory produce protection and control installations. Every relay system consists of 2 basic modules. One module is the analog interface module that mounts at primary equipment and converts all analog information (currents, voltages, equipment status, and control points) to digital signals. The other module is the relay itself that processes digital signals and makes protection decisions. Both of these modules are designed, built, and tested in a manufacturing environment. These modules install in a substation as faster, or faster, than with traditional protective relays. The use of a modular design results in a reduced cycle time for the entire project, including engineering, installation, and commissioning. The larger benefit is long term: in the future, you can, replace, upgrade, or evolve the protection and control system quickly, by simply changing out these modules. So the future replacement or upgrade, or evolve the protection and control system quickly, by simply changing out these modules. So the future replacement or upgrade project is to replace a field module with a fully tested replacement module.