Managing voltage dips in continuous process industries

Consumers with continuous process plants or even others with critical processes who cannot afford power interruption need additional in-house dynamic reactive power support to restore the voltage within less than ten milliseconds.

- Baldev Raj Narang

Voltage dip is a critical occurrence that causes the tripping of electrical equipment, leading to interruptions in production and other plant processes. The extent of loss of production and other associated losses vary with the plant’s size and nature, and the damages caused could be enormous in continuous process plants. Restarting the plant and stabilising the production process is time-consuming, generating waste and substandard production until the production process is streamlined. The restoration is labour-intensive, and the operation personnel need the support of the maintenance team to bring the plant back to normalcy. Such frequent interruptions impact the performance of plant and machinery, necessitating breakdown maintenance and even replacements. Depending upon the plant’s nature, complexity and size, the losses caused by each voltage dip may run into a few lakhs or even a few crores of rupees.

Reasons for the occurrence of voltage dips