Why RuggedCom Products for the Substation Environment?
RuggedCom has led the development of networking technology for the substation environment with many industry firsts that include:
- First to develop Ethernet switch technology that not only meets but exceeds IEC 61850-3 EMI and environmental requirements. Introduced in early 2002, at the same time as the IEC 61850-3 standard was released, the RuggedSwitch™ family of substation hardened Ethernet switches has become the standard for deploy a substation LAN
- First to develop Zero-Packet-Loss™ (ZPL) Technology. What is Zero-Packet-Loss™ technology? ZPL allows the substation LAN to perform without losing a single packet of data when exposed to EMI stress. What is EMI stress? EMI stress is the term given to describe the EMI phenomena which can occur in substations. Standards such as IEC 61850-3 describe the type tests which simulate these phenomena. Mission critical devices such as protective relaying systems must perform without error during the application of such type tests. Thus it makes sense that the devices which comprise the substation
LAN (I.e. the Ethernet switches) perform the same way. RuggedCom developed the RuggedSwitch™ family of fiber optical Ethernet switches to perform without error under EMI stress. This means no data loss, errors or delays when exposed to the destructive type tests described in IEC 61850-3. To learn more about ZPL click here
- First to qualify as an IEEE 1613 Class 2 device capable of error free performance under EMI stress as defined by the prescribed IEEE 1613 suite of destructive type tests. RuggedCom was a key participant in developing this standard.
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The Need for Substation Hardened Networking Products
The proliferation of Ethernet capable IEDs used for substation automation has increased markedly in the past several years. There are currently nine vendors of protective relaying devices alone offering Ethernet communications with their IEDs. Vendors of meters, RTUs and PLCs used for substation automation, also mirror this trend.
A key requirement of most substations IEDs such as protection relays is that they must operate properly (i.e. not ‘misoperate’) under the influence of a variety of EMI phenomena commonly found in the substation. Standards such as IEEE C37.90.x and IEC 60255 define a variety of type withstands tests designed to simulate EMI phenomena such as inductive load switching, lightening strikes, electrostatic discharges from human contact, radio frequency interference due to personnel using portable radio handsets, ground potential rise resulting from high current fault conditions within the substation and a variety of other EMI phenomena commonly encountered in the substation. This will also be true of the substation LAN equipment (i.e. the Ethernet switches). Often the Ethernet switches will be installed in the same compartment or even on the same rack as protective relaying IEDs. Therefore, it has become necessary that the Ethernet equipment become “substation hardened”, from an EMI immunity perspective, to the same level as protective relaying IEDs.
IEC 61850 addresses the need for substation hardened networking devices. It consists of 10 parts providing a comprehensive set of standards for communications networks in substations. Everything from environmental and EMI immunity requirements (IEC 61850-3) to conformance testing (IEC 61850-10).
The IEEE Power Engineering Society also developed a standard to address the proliferation of Ethernet networks in substation automation. Released in August of 2003, the IEEE 1613 IEEE Standard Environmental and Testing Requirements for Communications Networking Devices in Electric Power Substations addresses the environmental and performance requirements in networking equipment in substation environments. The majority of the specification was adopted from the IEEE C37.90.x standards for protective relaying systems.
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