Electrons flowing in conductors have no memory, nor do they leave fingerprints behind. This cosmic deficiency has tormented operators of critical facilities. When there is an electrical anomaly, there is little forensic evidence left behind to analyze the event. The opportunity to learn from an event is lost, as is the ability to eliminate its root cause.
When an electrical problem occurs in a distribution node, its fingerprint needs to be and can be captured. The most effective means of doing this is to capture the waveform of the voltage and current flowing through the node at the instant the anomaly is detected, and syncing this information with the network clock.
LayerZero Power Systems has integrated waveform capture functionality into all devices; and data center facility operators are starting to adopt this feature with enthusiasm. When an anomaly is detected, it is now possible to capture voltage and current waveforms at the PDU inputs and outputs; at the RPP inputs; and most importantly, at each of the branch circuit breaker outputs.
When power systems start to fail, the static switch is usually the last line of defense before the integrity of the critical load is compromised. Users are gratified that the switch transferred and protected the load, but in most instances left clueless to the underlying cause of the transfer.
Because facility personnel are unable to understand the root cause of the failed system, they cannot properly eliminate the problem. In order to do so, a comprehensive method is needed to record exact power system parameters at the inputs and output of the static switch before, during and after the transfer. This effort would require external monitoring utilizing several multi-channel recorders at very high cost and inconvenience.
LayerZero provides Waveform Capture of the transfer event showing the precise voltage and current data necessary to understand why a transfer was made (or intentionally not made). The 6-cycle capture is displayed on the system control panel and can be viewed remotely via a web-browser.