Improving Cooling System Immunity Supply Voltage Sags in Petroleum and Chemical Industries

Abstract

Electrical service faults and voltage discontinuities are of growing concern in process industries where individual sensitive equipment or controls can disrupt the entire plant. In fact, just a minor variation in power for a fraction of a second can cost tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment and product losses. This paper documents a case where loss of cooling water pumps created an out of spec product condition for weeks after a single power variation of less than one second. Specific methods of understanding and resolving the problem are presented along with some cost benefit analysis calculations.