3 Reasons to Use IntelliRupter Fault Interrupter Inside the Substation

In a portfolio as broad as S&C Electric Company's, every solution plays a role in strengthening the distribution grid.

But if we're talking about overall value and application opportunity, IntelliRupter® PulseCloser® Fault Interrupter stands out. This feeder protection device provides value with its many uses and benefits, and has been vital in helping utilities worldwide modernize their grids.

Yet the IntelliRupter® fault interrupter has one use case that is still underutilized: deployment inside substations.

How Utilities Often Use IntelliRupter Fault Interrupters

We call it an "all-in-one device" for a reason. To date, utilities have used IntelliRupter fault interrupters to:

Some utilities have even used IntelliRupter fault interrupter to achieve several of these goals at once, since the device can perform multiple grid-modernizing functions simultaneously.

This is true whether the device is pad-mounted in the middle of a feeder, pole-mounted at a tie point, or used at any other point a utility may deploy it.

How Substation Deployment Helps Your Grid

One place where IntelliRupter fault interrupter remains underdeployed is at the most upstream portion of the distribution grid: inside the substation.

Why deploy IntelliRupter fault interrupter here? There are three main benefits:

1. Protect your system from the highest fault current.

Using S&C's proprietary PulseClosing® Technology, IntelliRupter fault interrupter tests for faults using 95% less energy than conventional reclosers or circuit breakers. When deployed on feeders, this helps protect those lines from the stress of fault current.

By limiting the physical stress of high fault current, PulseClosing technology can extend the life of the system's components, such as splices and connectors, and it can even reduce conductor slap that could cause additional faults.

1. Reduce sympathetic voltage sags.

When multiple feeders originate from the same substation bus, sympathetic sags can be a problem: One line experiences a fault and the other lines then experience repeated sags as a conventional reclosing device tests the fault. Sometimes, these sympathetic sags can even cause momentary outages, creating power-quality and customer-satisfaction issues.

These issues can be avoided with an IntelliRupter fault interrupter deployed inside the substation. The device's low-energy PulseClosing technology tests for faults without creating voltage sags in adjacent feeders.

Without sympathetic sags and subsequent momentary outages, customers on those adjacent feeders remain unaffected-as does their satisfaction.

1. Extend the life of your transformer.

Substation transformers are the most expensive components of a power delivery system and the replacement process for failed transformers can be painful.

Too often, transformers fail due to the effects of conventional reclosing devices repeatedly applying high-magnitude fault energy during fault current cycles.

Which brings us back to PulseClosing technology. The reduced impact force of this fault-testing technology (less than 5% of the fault energy used by conventional reclosers) places far less stress on substation transformers. This naturally extends transformers' lifecycles and defers for years the difficult and expensive transformer replacement process.

IntelliRupter fault interrupter really does stand out as the all-in-one device that can significantly upgrade your substation, your feeder, and your whole grid.

Want to talk to us about how IntelliRupter fault interrupter can help your transformers? Contact us here.