Electric diagram with AFDD for monitoring and protection of critical consumers

Abstract

The evolution during the last decade of electronics has led to minimizing the volume of components such as sensors, switches, microcontrollers or digital signal processors. As consequence, it was possible to integrate these components that operate at very low currents in the miniaturized structure of electrical measuring, control or switching devices with nominal currents of tens or hundreds of amps. However, the existence of microcontrollers able of processing complex functions is outstanding in the case of the electronic trigger units integrated in automatic circuit breakers or of the arc fault detection devices.Arc fault detection devices can detect and disconnect any electric arc fault in a single-phase electrical circuit. This makes them indispensable in facilities that supply critical consumers such as hospitals, clinics, schools, etc. This paper proposes an electrical circuit that associates an AFDD with a GSM type device and an Arduino board. By programming the microcontroller from this board, it is avoided any fire having electrical causes by disconnecting the consumer from the power supply, it is started an audible alarm and the authorities of emergency situations are informed by SMS about the fault and its position.The proposed electrical circuits refer to both single-phase electrical circuits and three-phase electrical circuits.