Complying With NFPA 70B and Minimizing the Total Cost of Ownership of Medium Voltage Switchgear Using Condition Monitoring Technologies and Data Analytics

The NFPA 70B Standard for Electrical Equipment Maintenance requires that electrical equipment shall be maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions and applicable codes and standards (NFPA 70B 4.1.1), and that the equipment owner shall implement an overall electrical maintenance program (EMP) as per NFPA 70B 4.2.1. Medium voltage (MV) distribution equipment can operate safely for many years and remain in good condition if installed in appropriate environments and properly maintained. Most organizations, even today, resort to the maintenance strategies of fix upon failure or a time- or usage-based maintenance program, and this is reflected in their EMP. However, advances in sensor technologies coupled with the dramatic growth in the information infrastructure of Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics capabilities has opened new possibilities to rethink equipment maintenance based upon continuous monitoring of the equipment health. Such monitoring brings benefits of reduced operational costs through predictive maintenance and reduced downtime. An additional important potential benefit is an increase in personnel safety and reliability due to reduced need for onsite service and human interaction with energized equipment. In this paper we show how condition monitoring and data analytics technologies can reduce the total cost of ownership while complying with NFPA 70B.